Women with autoimmune conditions are up to 74 percent more likely than men to be told their symptoms are psychological, facing months or years of diagnostic delays, according to an international study published in October 2026.
The global survey, developed collaboratively by patients, charities, and clinicians and distributed via Qualtrics between December 2024 and March 2025, examined diagnostic experiences across more than 6,600 adults with confirmed autoimmune and inflammatory rheumatic diseases. Researchers at the University of Cambridge and the University of East Anglia found that female patients encounter markedly longer waits and a heavier healthcare burden before receiving accurate answers for conditions like lupus and thyroid disease.
University of Cambridge and University of East Anglia Findings on Gender Disparities
Autoimmune conditions occur when the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissues, often presenting with vague early signs such as fatigue, pain, and low mood that complicate prompt detection. While these systemic disorders affect between 24 million and 50 million Americans and roughly one in 10 people globally, women represent 70 to 80 percent of all cases worldwide. Yet the study revealed that female patients experienced significantly longer intervals between symptom onset and diagnosis.
While nearly half of male respondents received a diagnosis within one year, only 40 percent of females achieved the same milestone. Nearly a third of women—32 percent—waited four years or longer for a correct diagnosis, compared with 26 percent of men. Female patients also underwent a heavier healthcare utilization path, with 26 percent reporting 11 or more clinician visits prior to confirmation, compared with 18 percent of male respondents.
Psychiatric Misattributions and Diagnostic Delays in Female Patients
Beyond prolonged timelines, female participants reported much higher rates of having their physical symptoms dismissed as mental health issues or stress-related phenomena. After researchers adjusted for age, continent, and household financial status, women were 46 percent more likely to report receiving a psychiatric misdiagnosis and 74 percent more likely to report a psychosomatic misdiagnosis than men.
Data from the cohort showed that 43.3 percent of females reported being told their condition stemmed from a psychiatric cause, compared with 32.7 percent of males. Similarly, 33.9 percent of women reported having symptoms labeled as psychosomatic, versus 21.5 percent of men.
The damage caused to women by these types of misdiagnosis can be very long lasting in terms of trusting doctors and their own self-esteem.
Clinical Perspectives on Autoimmune Complexity and Medical Gaslighting
External specialists analyzing the international cross-sectional study published in eClinicalMedicine pointed to persistent historical biases in clinical practice. Devora Shapiro, an associate professor of social medicine at Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine who was not involved in the research, stated that the findings substantiate reports of medical gaslighting.
And yet men waited less time for an accurate diagnosis than women, required fewer trips to the physician in order to achieve an accurate diagnosis, and were less likely to be dismissed as presenting with a psychiatric or behavioral disorder.
At the same time, clinicians caution that psychiatric evaluations should not be entirely discarded when evaluating complex systemic disorders. David D’Cruz, a consultant rheumatologist at Guy’s Hospital in London, explained that patients can suffer from concurrent psychiatric and autoimmune conditions, particularly in cases of systemic lupus erythematosus that directly affect the central nervous system.
The study authors acknowledged limitations, noting that the findings relied on retrospective patient recall, self-selection through an online survey, and a predominantly White, UK-based sample comprising 91.2 percent female respondents. Consequently, the researchers cautioned that the results cannot be fully generalized across all global populations or definitively isolate whether the observed disparities stem entirely from biological mechanisms, clinical biases, or a combination of both factors.