Patient Perpetrated Sexual Harassment of Urologists: A Survey Based Study

Patient perpetrated sexual harassment has been studied with family physicians, surgical residents and dermatologists with the prevalence ranging from 27% to 77%. To our knowledge this phenomenon has not yet been studied in urology.

We surveyed urologists in the United States about their age, employment/training status and their experiences of patient perpetrated sexual harassment. Surveys were anonymous and hosted on a web based platform. Pearson chi-square analysis was used to assess risk factors and descriptive statistics were used to describe prevalence.

A total of 190 urologists completed the survey. Patient perpetrated sexual harassment was reported by 49.5% of respondents. Women were more likely to report patient perpetrated sexual harassment when compared with men, at 69% and 23%, respectively (p <0.0001). Being a resident/fellow portended higher rates of patient perpetrated sexual harassment compared to staff/attendings, at 69% and 44%, respectively (p=0.004). Respondents 40 years or younger were more likely to have reported patient perpetrated sexual harassment when compared to those 41 years old or older, at 65% and 39%, respectively (p=0.001).

The results of this survey study suggest that the prevalence of patient perpetrated sexual harassment in the field of urology may be high. Professional societies should perform further investigation into this matter. We suggest proactive development of guidelines and protocols to address patient perpetrated sexual harassment in urology.