A Sex Difference in the Bleeding Time

Summary

The bleeding time by a modified Ivy technique was estimated on 128 normal volunteers, 59 men and 69 women. The bleeding time was found to be significantly longer in women than men (p<.001). This was not attributable to a difference in platelet count nor to any detectable difference in platelet aggregability. It is likely that a difference in blood vessels or supporting tissues is responsible for the observed difference.

Keywords

Bleeding time - Ivy bleeding time - Sex difference

• References

• 1 Ivy AC, Nelson D, Bucher G. The standardization of certain factors in the cutaneous "venostasis" bleeding time technique. J Lab Clin Med 1940; 26: 1812-1822
• 2 Stevens RF, Alexander MK. A sex difference in the platelet count. Br J Haematol 1977; 37: 295-300