Does "this" refer back to the fact "that ABS may be not be diagnosed in males"?

Does "this" refer back to the fact "that ABS may be not be diagnosed in males"?

And "given" means "in consideration of" here?

Context:

The reason for the female predominance is unknown but raises the intriguing question as to whether withdrawal from estrogens contributes to the pathogenesis. It has been suggested that ABS may be not be diagnosed in males because of the higher prevalence of coronary artery disease, but this seems unlikely given the consistent sex disparity among all published studies.

Re: Does "this" refer back to the fact "that ABS may be not be diagnosed in males"?

It means more like, "the facts are", though, "in consideration of" would work as well here.

Re: Does "this" refer back to the fact "that ABS may be not be diagnosed in males"?

Gillnetter said:

It means more like, "the facts are", though, "in consideration of" would work as well here.

Click to expand...

Thank you.

"The facts" refer to "that ABS may be not be diagnosed in males"?

Re: Does "this" refer back to the fact "that ABS may be not be diagnosed in males"?

No. The text is clear -given the consistent sex disparity among all published studies.

Re: Does "this" refer back to the fact "that ABS may be not be diagnosed in males"?

NewHopeR said:

And "given" means "in consideration of" here?

Context:

The reason for the female predominance is unknown but raises the intriguing question as to whether withdrawal from estrogens contributes to the pathogenesis. It has been suggested that ABS may be not be diagnosed in males because of the higher prevalence of coronary artery disease, but this seems unlikely given the consistent sex disparity among all published studies.

Click to expand...

As far as I can tell, "this" refers to the theory that ABS is not diagnosed because of the higher prevalence of coronary artery disease.

Re: Does "this" refer back to the fact "that ABS may be not be diagnosed in males"?

Yes, I agree. "this" refers backward and "given" is about the rest of the sentence.