Physician gender and women's preventive services.
J Womens Health
; 6(2): 199-207, 1997 Apr.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-9140854
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To determine whether the gender of women's regular physicians, controlling for physician specialty, is associated with women's receiving key preventive services within recommended intervals.DESIGN:
Cross-sectional, nationally representative women's health telephone survey conducted by Louis Harris and Associates in February and March 1993 for The Commonwealth Fund.PARTICIPANTS:
A total of 2,525 women in the continental United States, > or = 18 years old, including oversamples of African-American and Hispanic women. MAIN OUTCOMEMEASURES:
Receipt of each of five preventive services (blood pressure reading, Pap smear, cholesterol test, clinical breast examination, and mammogram) within specific periods.RESULTS:
Physician gender makes a significant difference for two specialty areas and for three preventive services. Patients of women family or general practitioners are more likely than the patients of men to have received a Pap smear or a blood cholesterol test within the last 3 years, and the patients of women internists are more likely to have received a Pap test. Physician gender is associated with a higher likelihood of mammography, but this finding was limited to patients ages 40-49 of women family or general practitioners. Physician gender does not affect receipt of blood pressure screening or breast examination.CONCLUSIONS:
Analyses reveal limited evidence that physician gender affects women's receipt of preventive services. Physician specialty appears to be a more powerful predictor of preventive services received. The limited evidence for a physician gender effect, however, is relevant for those women who rely on a family or general practitioner or an internist for regular care.
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Médicas
/
Prevenção Primária
/
Serviços de Saúde da Mulher
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
1997
Tipo de documento:
Article