[Patient satisfaction in oncological aftercare--differential results of gender aspects in doctor-patient dyads]

["He does not know it yet"-Triadic communication and its pitfalls exemplified by an oncological ward round consultation]

Medical communication is an effective instrument for the medical practice. Due to the low status that medical communication still has within medicine and medical education, many physicians do not know how to use this instrument professionally. Using medical communication in a way that patients are well informed and involved is a prerequisite for them to make self-determined decisions. In this paper I analyze a consultation in an oncology ward to show the pitfalls of medical communication, especially in triadic communication, based on a case study to work out suggestions for optimization from the transcript. Mistakes in conducting conversations, which can be recognized as such in theory, unfortunately still happen in practice, which is why this case study is intended as an invitation to critically reflect on one's own conduct of conversations. The conclusion contains suggestions for the preparation as well as the conduct of the consultation during medical rounds.

Population Preference of Surgeon's Gender for Surgical Care and Their Attitudes Toward Female Surgeons in Taif, Saudi Arabia

Introduction

One contributing factor that has led to a reduction in the number of females entering the profession of surgery is discrimination against female surgeons. Little is known about the practices, attitudes, and perceptions of the Saudi population toward gender discrimination in the field of surgery. The aim of this study was to assess the practices, attitudes, and perceptions of the Taif population in choosing a surgeon based on their gender.

Materials and methods

An online pretested questionnaire was randomly sent to the participants living in Taif city. Collected data were subjected to scrutiny to check participants' study inclusion criteria. All the data were subjected to statistical analysis by an independent biostatistician. Pearson's chi-square test was used to search for a statistically significant association between categorical variables.

Results

About 49.5% of the participants preferred a surgeon of the same gender when consulting for a non-emergency visit to a surgery clinic, whereas females significantly preferred a female surgeon (p < 0.001). The most common reason to choose surgeons of the same gender was comfort, followed by ease of talking. About 71.8% of the participants preferred female surgeons for ''sensitive'' surgical cases such as genital, obstetric, or sexual disorders, whereas 12.1% preferred male surgeons.

Conclusion

Females have shown progress in the field of surgery, but there is still much to be done to convert the surgical workplace to be more supportive of women so that they contribute their best effort.

Objective Data Reveals Gender Preferences for Patients' Primary Care Physician

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Most studies based on self-reported data indicate that female patients more often than males have a same-gender preference for their primary care physician (PCP). Because self-reported preferences may not reflect true preferences, we analyzed objective data to investigate patients' preferences for PCP gender.

METHODS

Analyses were performed on 2192 new patients seen within a university-based healthcare system by 13 PCPs (2 male, 11 female) during 2017. New patients were asked about their PCP gender preference when assigned a PCP. We compared the expected prevalence (proportion of males/females in overall patient population) and observed prevalence (gender distribution of patients for each PCP) by PCP gender. A mixed model with PCP as a random effect examined the odds of male and female patients being assigned a same-gender physician.

RESULTS

The expected prevalence of new patients was 65% female and 35% male. The observed prevalence (95% confidence interval [CI]) of male patients among male and female PCPs was, respectively, 59.7% (49.0%-69.5%) and 28.0% (24.0%-32.4%), with neither CI containing the expected prevalence of male patients (35%). Similarly, the observed prevalence of female patients among male and female PCPs was, respectively, 40.3% (95% CI 30.5%-51.0%) and 72.0% (95% CI 67.6%-76.0%), with neither CI containing the expected prevalence of female patients (65%).

CONCLUSIONS

Both male and female patients often preferred to see a same-gender PCP with this preference more pronounced in males. Future research should seek to clarify the relationships between patients' gender preferences, patient-physician gender concordance/discordance, patient satisfaction, and health outcomes.

Is patient satisfaction with organizational aspects of their general practitioner's practice associated with patient and doctor gender? An observational study

BACKGROUND

No study has assessed the association between patients' and doctors' gender and patient satisfaction with organizational aspects of health care in primary care. However, just like satisfaction regarding communication styles or technical skills, satisfaction towards organization of the general practitioner (GP) practice could also depend on doctors' and/or patients' gender. Different expectations between female and male patients regarding the organization of the practice or different ways of organizing care delivery between female and male GPs could act on this satisfaction. We aimed to compare female and male patients' satisfaction towards their GP overall, and according to GPs' gender.

METHODS

In a cross-sectional study in Geneva, 23 randomly selected GPs (participation rate: 31 %) were asked to recruit up to 100 consecutive patients coming to the practice for a scheduled medical consultation. The patients completed an anonymous questionnaire about their satisfaction with their GP. Patient satisfaction was assessed using the six questions from the Europep questionnaire regarding organizational aspects of health care in terms of accessibility and availability, and presented in two different ways: % of patients very satisfied and mean score (SD). Multivariate analyses adjusting for patient and GP characteristics were conducted to compare outcomes between genders.

RESULTS

One thousand six hundred thirty-seven patients agreed to participate (participation rate: 97 %, women: 63 %, mean age: 54 years). The majority of patients were very satisfied (women 96.2 %, men 95.3 %, p = 0.38). Mean satisfaction scores were slightly higher in women (for overall satisfaction: women 4.7/5 (SD 0.6), men 4.6/5 (SD 0.6), p = 0.02) and in women visiting male GPs (women 4.6 (SD 0.6), men 4.5 (SD 0.6), p = 0.01), and the gender differences showed consistency across satisfaction items. These differences were small and no longer statistically significant in multivariate analyses.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that patients are highly satisfied with the organization of their GP's practice, regardless of patients' and GPs' gender. As patients' and GPs' gender are known to influence patient satisfaction towards primary care delivery and as the current study is the first to explore this aspect in relation to organizational aspects of GP practice, further studies are needed in various primary care settings to confirm our results.