Impact of physician gender on sexual history taking in a multispecialty practice.
BACKGROUND
Identification of sexual dysfunction may help physicians diagnose problems such as diabetes, pituitary tumors, atherosclerosis, and depression. Sexual concerns are common among patients; however, there is evidence to suggest that these concerns are not appropriately investigated by clinicians.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the impact of physician gender on sexual history taking.


METHODS
One hundred and thirty-one study questionnaires were sent to OB/Gyns, family practitioners, internists, pediatricians, and surgeons. Physicians were asked to rank their discomfort during interviews with patients of different ages, races, marital status, sexual preference, religious beliefs, and academic achievement, and they were asked to rank their perception of patient discomfort.


METHODS
A cross-sectional descriptive analysis was generated, Fisher's exact test was performed utilizing SPSS software, and confidence intervals were developed utilizing SAS software.


RESULTS
Of the 78 questionnaires (59%) returned, 69 (88%) reported taking sexual histories. Characteristics identified by physicians as causing discomfort included patient's age younger than 18 and greater than 65, patient's academic achievement below college level, and patient's divorced or single marital status. Moreover, there was a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05) between male and female physicians reporting their discomfort when interviewing males (19% and 50%, respectively) and females (35% and 12%, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
Although a high percentage of practitioners report taking a sexual history, physicians reported and perceived greatest discomfort when interviewing opposite gender patients as well as patients of very young and old ages. It is clear that not only is there a need for physician education on the topic of sexual history taking, but also consideration of the impact of physician and patient gender.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA. irinaburd@yahoo.com
Irina D
ID
Burd
Nicole
N
Nevadunsky
Gloria
G
Bachmann
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003144:Communication Barriers; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008487:Medical History Taking / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010822:Physicians, Women; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires