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[Gynecologic examination: perceptions, fears and expectations of polyclinic patients]
K Vondruska-Benkert1, R A Steiner, C Buddeberg
1Departement für Frauenheilkunde, Universitätsspital Zürich, Schweiz.
Objective:
What kind of expectations, desires and fears do patients have concerning the pelvic examination, and is it possible to improve the procedure?
Methods:
We asked 1,061 women of our gynecological outpatient clinic using a questionnaire.
Results:
48% said that the pelvic examination caused no problem at all, while nearly every third patient felt tense and uncomfortable. 75% of the women wanted explanations during the examination, which had to be carried out in the absence of a third person in 46%. The same percentage said that it did not matter. 53% had no preference of gender concerning the examiner, 37% preferred a female doctor and 10% gave preference to a male one.
Conclusions:
The pelvic examination, which is mainly associated with reluctance and discomfort of the patient, does not seem to be experienced like this by almost half of our patients. It is easily possible to ameliorate the procedure, for example by explaining the findings during the examination and by complying with the gender preferences of the patients as much as possible.