Age and preoperative pain are major confounders for sex differences in postoperative pain outcome: A prospective database analysis.

Our data confirmed that sex differences exist in pain intensity and frequency, pain interference with feelings and opioid consumption during the first 24 hours postoperatively. However, sex differences were significantly influenced by the factors "age" and "preoperative pain". These findings may in part explain why clinical studies get different results related to sex differences and renders specific awareness in older women and female patients with preoperative chronic pain.