Objective Data Reveals Gender Preferences for Patients' Primary Care Physician

Area of Science:

• Healthcare research
• Medical sociology
• Patient-centered care

Background:

• Previous studies using self-reported data suggest female patients more frequently prefer a same-gender primary care physician (PCP) than males.
• Self-reported preferences may not accurately reflect true patient desires for PCP gender.

Purpose of the Study:

• To objectively investigate patient preferences for primary care physician gender.
• To compare observed patient-PCP gender distribution against expected prevalence.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of objective data from 2192 new patients and 13 PCPs (2 male, 11 female) in a university healthcare system.
• Comparison of expected patient gender prevalence with observed gender distribution of patients assigned to PCPs.
• Use of a mixed-effects model to examine odds of same-gender physician assignment for male and female patients.

Main Results:

• Observed prevalence of male patients with male PCPs was 59.7% (CI 49.0%-69.5%), and with female PCPs was 28.0% (CI 24.0%-32.4%).
• Observed prevalence of female patients with male PCPs was 40.3% (CI 30.5%-51.0%), and with female PCPs was 72.0% (CI 67.6%-76.0%).
• Neither male nor female PCP's observed patient gender distribution matched the expected population prevalence.

Conclusions:

• Both male and female patients demonstrated a preference for same-gender PCPs, with males showing a stronger preference.
• Further research is needed to understand the links between patient gender preferences, physician concordance, patient satisfaction, and health outcomes.