Patients’ preferences regarding physicians’ gender: a clinical center cross-sectional study

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:

Even with the significant growth of female representation within medicine, inequality and prejudice against this group persist.

OBJECTIVE:

To analyze patients’ preferences regarding the gender of physicians in general and according to different specialties, and the possible reasons behind their choice.

DESIGN AND SETTING:

Cross-sectional study at the Clinical Center of the University of Caxias do Sul, Brazil.

METHODS:

Over a three-month period in 2020, 1,016 patients were asked to complete a paper-based 11-item questionnaire.

RESULTS:

The majority (81.7%; n = 830) of the patients did not have a preference regarding the gender of physicians in general. The preference rate for same-gender physicians was 14.0% (n = 142/1,016), and this preference was more common among female than among male patients (17.6% versus 7.0%; odds ratio, OR = 2.85; 95% confidence interval, CI = 1.80-4.52; P < 0.001). When asked about their preference for the gender of the specialist who they were waiting to see, the overall preference rate for a same-gender professional was 17.2% (n = 175). Preference for same-gender specialists was higher for specialties essentially based on pelvic or breast examination (i.e. gynecology, urology, proctology and mastology), compared with others (33.4% versus 9.7%; OR = 4.69; 95% CI = 3.33-6.61; P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS:

The patients’ model for choice of their physician does not seem to involve physicians’ gender in general or in the majority of medical specialties. The data presented in this study may make it easier to understand patients’ preferences and concerns.

Related collections

Most cited references 45

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Discrimination, Abuse, Harassment, and Burnout in Surgical Residency Training

Yue-Yung Hu, Ryan J Ellis, D. Brock Hewitt … (2019)

Physicians, particularly trainees and those in surgical subspecialties, are at risk for burnout. Mistreatment (i.e., discrimination, verbal or physical abuse, and sexual harassment) may contribute to burnout and suicidal thoughts. A cross-sectional national survey of general surgery residents administered with the 2018 American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination assessed mistreatment, burnout (evaluated with the use of the modified Maslach Burnout Inventory), and suicidal thoughts during the past year. We used multivariable logistic-regression models to assess the association of mistreatment with burnout and suicidal thoughts. The survey asked residents to report their gender. Among 7409 residents (99.3% of the eligible residents) from all 262 surgical residency programs, 31.9% reported discrimination based on their self-identified gender, 16.6% reported racial discrimination, 30.3% reported verbal or physical abuse (or both), and 10.3% reported sexual harassment. Rates of all mistreatment measures were higher among women; 65.1% of the women reported gender discrimination and 19.9% reported sexual harassment. Patients and patients’ families were the most frequent sources of gender discrimination (as reported by 43.6% of residents) and racial discrimination (47.4%), whereas attending surgeons were the most frequent sources of sexual harassment (27.2%) and abuse (51.9%). Proportion of residents reporting mistreatment varied considerably among residency programs (e.g., ranging from 0 to 66.7% for verbal abuse). Weekly burnout symptoms were reported by 38.5% of residents, and 4.5% reported having had suicidal thoughts during the past year. Residents who reported exposure to discrimination, abuse, or harassment at least a few times per month were more likely than residents with no reported mistreatment exposures to have symptoms of burnout (odds ratio, 2.94; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.58 to 3.36) and suicidal thoughts (odds ratio, 3.07; 95% CI, 2.25 to 4.19). Although models that were not adjusted for mistreatment showed that women were more likely than men to report burnout symptoms (42.4% vs. 35.9%; odds ratio, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.20 to 1.48), the difference was no longer evident after the models were adjusted for mistreatment (odds ratio, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.80 to 1.00). Mistreatment occurs frequently among general surgery residents, especially women, and is associated with burnout and suicidal thoughts.

0 comments Cited 223 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Physician gender effects in medical communication: a meta-analytic review.

Yutaka Aoki, Debra Roter, Timothy J. Hall (2002)

Physician gender has been viewed as a possible source of variation in the interpersonal aspects of medical practice, with speculation that female physicians facilitate more open and equal exchange and a different therapeutic milieu from that of male physicians. However, studies in this area are generally based on small samples, with conflicting results. To systematically review and quantify the effect of physician gender on communication during medical visits. Online database searches of English-language abstracts for the years 1967 to 2001 (MEDLINE, AIDSLINE, PsycINFO, and Bioethics); a hand search was conducted of reprint files and the reference sections of review articles and other publications. Studies using a communication data source, such as audiotape, videotape, or direct observation, and large national or regional studies in which physician report was used to establish length of visit, were identified through bibliographic and computerized searches. Twenty-three observational studies and 3 large physician-report studies reported in 29 publications met inclusion criteria and were rated. The Cohen d was computed based on 2 reviewers' (J.A.H. and Y.A.) independent extraction of quantitative information from the publications. Study heterogeneity was tested using Q statistics and pooled effect sizes were computed using the appropriate effects model. The characteristics of the study populations were also extracted. Female physicians engage in significantly more active partnership behaviors, positive talk, psychosocial counseling, psychosocial question asking, and emotionally focused talk. There were no gender differences evident in the amount, quality, or manner of biomedical information giving or social conversation. Medical visits with female physicians are, on average, 2 minutes (10%) longer than those with male physicians. Obstetrics and gynecology may present a different pattern than that of primary care, with male physicians demonstrating higher levels of emotionally focused talk than their female colleagues. Female primary care physicians engage in more communication that can be considered patient centered and have longer visits than their male colleagues. Limited studies exist outside of primary care, and gender-related practice patterns in some subspecialties may differ from those evident in primary care.

0 comments Cited 184 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

The influence of gender on the doctor-patient interaction.

Klea D Bertakis (2009)

This paper discusses the research focused on gender issues in healthcare communication. The majority of papers discussed here are based on a research study in which 509 new adult patients were prospectively and randomly assigned to family practice or internal medicine clinics at a university medical center and followed for one year of care. There are significant differences in the practice style behaviors of female and male doctors. Female doctors provide more preventive services and psychosocial counseling; male doctors spend more time on technical practice behaviors, such as medical history taking and physical examination. The patients of female doctors are more satisfied, even after adjusting for patient characteristics and physician practice style. Female patients make more medical visits and have higher total annual medical charges; their visits include more preventive services, less physical examination, and fewer discussions about tobacco, alcohol and other substance abuse (controlling for health status and sociodemographic variables). The examination of gender concordant and discordant doctor-patient dyads provides a unique strategy for assessing the effect of gender on what takes place during the medical visit. Doctor and patient gender can impact the physician-patient interaction and its outcomes. The development of appropriate strategies for the implementation of knowledge about physician and patient gender differences will be crucial for the delivery of high quality gender-sensitive healthcare.

0 comments Cited 78 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Contributors

Carolina Matté Dagostini: Role: substantial contribution to the conception or design of the work and to the acquisition, analysis and interpretation of data for the work; drafted the work and revised it critically for important intellectual content; responsible for final approval of the version to be published; agrees to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved; contributed actively to discussion of the study results and reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript to be released.

Yan De Assunção Bicca: Role: substantial contribution to the design of the work and to the acquisition, analysis and interpretation of data for the work; drafted the work and revised it critically for important intellectual content; responsible for final approval of the version to be published; agrees to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved; contributed actively to discussion of the study results and reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript to be released.

Miguel Bertelli Ramos: Role: substantial contribution to the design of the work and to the analysis and interpretation of data for the work; drafted the work and revised it critically for important intellectual content; responsible for final approval of the version to be published; agrees to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved; contributed actively to discussion of the study results and reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript to be released.

Sabrina Busnello: Role: substantial contribution to the design of the work and to the acquisition of data for the work; drafted the work and revised it critically for important intellectual content; responsible for final approval of the version to be published; agrees to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved; contributed actively to discussion of the study results and reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript to be released.

Murillo Cesar Gionedis: Role: substantial contribution to the design of the work and to the acquisition of data for the work; drafted the work and revised it critically for important intellectual content; responsible for final approval of the version to be published; agrees to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved; contributed actively to discussion of the study results and reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript to be released.

Natália Contini: Role: substantial contribution to the design of the work and to the acquisition of data for the work; drafted the work and revised it critically for important intellectual content; responsible for final approval of the version to be published; agrees to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved; contributed actively to discussion of the study results and reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript to be released.

Asdrubal Falavigna: Role: substantial contribution to the design of the work and to the analysis and interpretation of data for the work; drafted the work and revised it critically for important intellectual content; responsible for final approval of the version to be published; agrees to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved; contributed actively to discussion from the study results and reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript to be released

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Sao Paulo Med J

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Sao Paulo Med J

Journal ID (publisher-id): Sao Paulo Med J

Title: São Paulo Medical Journal

Publisher: Associação Paulista de Medicina - APM

ISSN (Print): 1516-3180

ISSN (Electronic): 1806-9460

Publication date (Electronic): 17 January 2022

Publication date Collection: 2022

Volume: 140

Issue: 1

Pages: 134-143

Affiliations

[I ] originalUndergraduate Medical Student, Department of Neurosurgery, Universidade de Caxias do Sul (UCS), Caxias do Sul (RS), Brazil.

[II ] originalUndergraduate Medical Student, Department of Neurosurgery, Universidade de Caxias do Sul (UCS), Caxias do Sul (RS), Brazil.

[III ] originalUndergraduate Medical Student, Department of Neurosurgery, Universidade de Caxias do Sul (UCS), Caxias do Sul (RS), Brazil.

[IV ] originalUndergraduate Medical Student, Department of Neurosurgery, Universidade de Caxias do Sul (UCS), Caxias do Sul (RS), Brazil.

[V ] originalUndergraduate Medical Student, Department of Neurosurgery, Universidade de Caxias do Sul (UCS), Caxias do Sul (RS), Brazil.

[VI ] originalUndergraduate Medical Student, Department of Neurosurgery, Universidade de Caxias do Sul (UCS), Caxias do Sul (RS), Brazil.

[VII ] originalMD, MSc, PhD. Coordinator, Health Sciences Undergraduate Program, Universidade de Caxias do Sul (UCS), Caxias do Sul (RS), Brazil.

Author notes

Address for correspondence:Carolina Matté Dagostini Universidade de Caxias do Sul (UCS) R. Francisco Getúlio Vargas, 1.130 Caxias do Sul (RS) — Brasil CEP 95070-560 Tel. (+55 54) 99202-2829 E-mail: carolmdagostini@ 123456hotmail.com

Conflict of interest:None

Article

DOI: 10.1590/1516-3180.2021.0171.R1.08062021

PMC ID: 9623840

PubMed ID: 35043868

SO-VID: f48414ae-d553-44c1-a523-c1ab38181767

License:

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons license.

History

Date received : 06 March 2021

Date revision received : 26 May 2021

Date accepted : 08 June 2021

Page count

Figures: 2, Tables: 4, Equations: 0, References: 39, Pages: 10

Comments

Comment on this article

scite_

Cited by 2

See all cited by

Most referenced authors 266

See all reference authors

- Version 1

Patients’ preferences regarding physicians’ gender: a clinical center cross-sectional study

Read this article at

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:

OBJECTIVE:

DESIGN AND SETTING:

METHODS:

RESULTS:

CONCLUSIONS:

Related collections

SciELO Brazil

Most cited references 45

Discrimination, Abuse, Harassment, and Burnout in Surgical Residency Training

Physician gender effects in medical communication: a meta-analytic review.

The influence of gender on the doctor-patient interaction.

Author and article information

Contributors

Journal

Affiliations

Author notes

Article

History

Page count

Categories

Comments

Comment on this article

Similar content 299

Cited by 2

Most referenced authors 266