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Portrayal of female physicians in cardiovascular advertisements
Sofia B Ahmed1, Sherry L Grace, Henry T Stelfox
1Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Insights
Cardiovascular advertisements disproportionately feature male physicians, with female physicians appearing infrequently and in less prominent positions. This underrepresentation may reflect and worsen gender disparities in cardiology.
Area of Science:
- Medical Marketing and Communications
- Cardiovascular Medicine
- Gender Studies in Medicine
Background:
- Despite increasing female medical school graduates, few women pursue cardiovascular specialties.
- Pharmaceutical promotion influences physician behavior, and representation in advertisements may shape perceptions.
- The portrayal of female physicians in cardiovascular advertisements is largely unexamined.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the representation of female and male physicians in cardiovascular advertisements.
- To determine if there is equitable visibility of female physicians in medical journal advertisements within cardiology.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of cardiovascular advertisements in American general and specialty medical journals from January 1996 to June 1998.
- Recording advertisement frequency, placement (premium positions), and characteristics of the primary physician figure (sex, age, race).
- Statistical comparison of representation and placement between male and female physicians.
Main Results:
- Of 35 advertisements featuring a physician, only 6 (17%) depicted a female physician, compared to 29 (83%) male physicians (P<0.001).
- Advertisements featuring female physicians appeared less frequently (20.7%) and in significantly fewer premium positions (OR=0.25) than those with male physicians (P=0.01).
- This disparity suggests unequal visibility and potential bias in how female physicians are represented in the field.
Conclusions:
- Female physicians are significantly underrepresented in cardiovascular advertisements.
- This underrepresentation may mirror and perpetuate existing gender imbalances within cardiovascular specialties.
- Addressing this disparity is crucial for promoting gender equity in medicine.
Background:
Despite increasing numbers of female medical school graduates, few women enter cardiovascular specialties. Pharmaceutical promotion may influence physician behaviour. It is unclear how female physicians are represented in cardiovascular advertisements, which may, in turn, influence physician perceptions.
Objectives:
To determine if female and male physicians are equally represented in cardiovascular advertisements.
Methods:
All cardiovascular advertisements from American editions of general medical and cardiovascular journals published between January 1, 1996, and June 30, 1998, were examined. For each unique advertisement, the total number of journal appearances and the number of appearances in journals' premium positions were recorded. The role, sex, age and race of the primary figure featured in the advertisement were noted.
Results:
Nine hundred nineteen unique advertisements were identified, 35 of which depicted a physician as the primary figure. Six (17%, 95% CI 8.1% to 32.7%) of these advertisements portrayed a female physician, while 29 (83%, 95% CI 67.3% to 91.9%) depicted a male physician (P<0.001). Female physician advertisements appeared in journals 39 times (20.7%; 95% CI 2.8% to 43.5%), while male physician advertisements appeared 149 times (79.3%; 95% CI 56.5% to 97.2%) (P=0.01). The odds ratio for a female physician advertisement appearing in a premium position compared with a male physician advertisement was 0.25 (95% CI 0.09 to 0.68).
Conclusion:
The relative paucity of female physicians in cardiovascular advertisements is a concern because it may both reflect and reinforce sex asymmetries in cardiovascular specialties.
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