Women With Autoimmune Diseases Wait Up to Four Years Longer for Diagnosis Than Men, Study Finds
A Cambridge University study published in eClinicalMedicine found that women with autoimmune diseases wait one to two years for a diagnosis on average, compared to less than three months for men. Nearly a third of women waited four years or more, and women were 74 percent more likely to have their symptoms dismissed as psychosomatic.
Women with autoimmune diseases face significantly longer waits for a correct diagnosis than men, according to a study published in eClinicalMedicine in October 2026.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge analyzed data from 6,607 adults with confirmed autoimmune or inflammatory rheumatic diseases. They found that the most common time from symptom onset to diagnosis for men was less than three months. For women, the most common interval was one to two years.
Nearly a third of women, 31.8 percent, reported waiting four years or longer for a diagnosis. Among men, 25.5 percent waited that long. Women also reported more healthcare visits before receiving a diagnosis, with 26.2 percent seeing a clinician 11 or more times, compared to 18.4 percent of men.
The study found that women were 46 percent more likely than men to be told their condition was psychiatric in origin. Women were 74 percent more likely to have their symptoms dismissed as psychosomatic, meaning triggered or worsened by stress or anxiety.
Lead researcher Melanie Sloan said historical medical biases often position women as less credible reporters of symptoms. Once a psychiatric label is applied, clinicians may interpret subsequent physical symptoms through a psychological lens, making it harder to reach the correct diagnosis.
Autoimmune conditions affect roughly 70 to 80 percent of women globally. Many of these diseases, including lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis, present with non-specific symptoms like fatigue, pain, and sleep disturbance that can overlap with psychiatric or hormonal conditions.
The researchers emphasized that delayed diagnoses are not merely academic. Prolonged untreated inflammation increases the risk of irreversible organ damage and reduces quality of life. They called on clinicians to consider autoimmune causes early for patients with persistent, multi-system symptoms and to treat patient-reported accounts as essential clinical evidence.
