Obstetricians and gynecologists: which characteristics do Israeli lesbians prefer?

AIM: The aim of this study was to explore lesbians' preferences when choosing obstetricians/gynecologists. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 100 lesbian and 100 heterosexual women. A 40-item questionnaire assessed the correlation between a patient's sexual identity and her specific preferences for obstetricians/gynecologists. RESULTS: The top five most important parameters for both groups in choosing obstetricians/gynecologists overlapped greatly. Four of those were experience, ability, knowledge and personality. Only one parameter differed: lesbians ranked 'sexually tolerant' as the third most important characteristic while heterosexuals ranked 'availability' as the fifth most important characteristic. Lesbians rated 'sexual tolerance' significantly higher than heterosexuals (P < 0.001). More lesbians (56%) preferred female obstetricians/gynecologists compared to heterosexuals (21%) (P < 0.001). When compared to heterosexuals, more lesbians preferred female obstetricians/gynecologists for intimate and non-intimate procedures (P < 0.001). But within the lesbian population, a higher percentage of subjects showed a preference for female obstetricians/gynecologists only for intimate procedures. Lesbians used the following to describe their preference for female obstetricians/gynecologists: feeling more comfortable; gentle; sympathetic; patient; more understanding of women's health; better physicians in general; and more sexually tolerant (P < 0.001 vs heterosexual). However, when we looked only at the lesbian population, the majority did not exhibit a preference for a female obstetrician/gynecologist for any of these reasons. The main reason given by the 56% of the lesbians who said they prefer female obstetricians/gynecologists was feeling more comfortable. CONCLUSION: Overwhelmingly lesbians prefer sexually tolerant obstetricians/gynecologists regardless of their gender; however, only a small number of lesbian subjects in this study considered their obstetricians/gynecologists as displaying this characteristic.

Overlooked monkeypox cases among men having sex with men during the 2022 outbreak - a retrospective study.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to characterize overlooked cases of patients with monkeypox infection in the 2022 outbreak. METHODS: Clinical characteristics of 26 patients who were misdiagnosed with other diseases were described. RESULTS: Of the 26 patients who were misdiagnosed, six (23%) were given a diagnosis of bacterial tonsillitis, six (23%) were diagnosed with primary syphilis, five (19.2%) with oral or genital herpes, and four (15.3%) with bacterial proctitis or anal abscess. The average time interval between missed and right diagnosis was 4.4 days. There was no difference in the missed cases between the early and the later month of the outbreak. CONCLUSION: Monkeypox might still be commonly overlooked, especially in patients presenting with fever and sore throat or solitary ulcer as sole manifestations.