DO WOMEN PATIENTS PREFER TO UNDERGO COLONOSCOPIES PERFORMED BY WOMEN ENDOSCOPISTS?

Abstract

Objectives : Recently, the preference of women patients to deal with women doctors has been shown in various areas of medicine, for example genital examinations and issues about gender. We carried out a questionnaire-based investigation to see whether women patients preferred to undergo colonoscopies performed by female endoscopists. Methods : A total of 110 women patients who had undergone colonoscopies were asked about their gender preference regarding the examining physician before and after the examination. Results : The percentage of women patients who preferred women colonoscopists increased to 67% after colonoscopy, compared with 56% before colonoscopy. Seventy-two percent of younger patients (under 50 years) preferred female doctors, compared with 45% of older patients (over 50 years) (p=0.0044). Seventy percent of patients who had never undergone a colonoscopy preferred female doctors compared with 43% of patients who had experienced a colonoscopy (p=0.0047). Employed and asymptomatic patients showed a tendency to prefer female endoscopists compared with unemployed and symptomatic patients. Conclusions : We showed that women patients preferred to have colonoscopies performed by female endoscopists.