NEED FOR FEMALE COLONOSCOPISTS

Abstract

Objective: We examined the proportion of patients of each gender preferring a colonoscopist of a specific gender in order to identify the need for female colonoscopists. Method: We distributed a questionnaire to 1,157 patients (677 men and 480 women) who were scheduled to undergo colonoscopy before and after the colonoscopic examination. Results: Before the colonoscopy, female colonoscopists were requested by 25.8% of women and 0.9% of men (P＜0.01). Further, subgroup analysis of the female patients showed that 47.3% of patients ＜50 years and 39.7% with no previous colonoscopy history preferred female colonoscopists, compared with 20.7% of patients ≧50 years and 20.6% with prior colonoscopy history (both P＜0.01). After undergoing colonoscopy with a female colonoscopist, 52.6% of the female patients preferred female colonoscopists for future examinations, compared with 11.7% of female patients who did so after undergoing colonoscopy with a male colonoscopist (P＜0.01). Conclusion: Female patients, especially younger patients and those with no previous colonoscopic history, are more likely to request female colonoscopists.