Do patients care about the age of their general practitioner? A questionnaire survey in five practices

Previous work has suggested that some patients like their doctors to adopt a paternal or maternal role.

This study set out to establish whether or not patients had preferences with regard to the age of their general practitioner and also to see whether they attributed various characteristics to younger or older doctors.

A self-administered questionnaire was given to 500 patients attending five general practices in Lothian, Scotland.

Significant numbers of patients attributed different characteristics to older or younger doctors. Older doctors were more likely to be attributed positive attributes such as being thorough, kind, and willing to listen. The mean preferred age was 42 years. This varied slightly with the age of patients, from 40 years for patients under the age of 25 years to 45 years for those over 60 years. Of patients, 58% thought the age of their doctor was unimportant, but many were unhappy about seeing very young doctors (20-25 years, n = 195) or old doctors (66-75 years, n = 193).

Patients did not seem concerned about the age of their doctor as long as he or she was of an age normally practising in the United Kingdom (27-65 years). They had some stereotyped views on the characteristics of older and younger doctors, but these were not held particularly strongly. Patients appeared to want a balance with the doctor being experienced and being up to date.