Physician gender and women's preventive services

To determine whether the gender of women's regular physicians, controlling for physician specialty, is associated with women's receiving key preventive services within recommended intervals.

Cross-sectional, nationally representative women's health telephone survey conducted by Louis Harris and Associates in February and March 1993 for The Commonwealth Fund.

A total of 2,525 women in the continental United States, > or = 18 years old, including oversamples of African-American and Hispanic women.

Receipt of each of five preventive services (blood pressure reading, Pap smear, cholesterol test, clinical breast examination, and mammogram) within specific periods.

Physician gender makes a significant difference for two specialty areas and for three preventive services. Patients of women family or general practitioners are more likely than the patients of men to have received a Pap smear or a blood cholesterol test within the last 3 years, and the patients of women internists are more likely to have received a Pap test. Physician gender is associated with a higher likelihood of mammography, but this finding was limited to patients ages 40-49 of women family or general practitioners. Physician gender does not affect receipt of blood pressure screening or breast examination.

Analyses reveal limited evidence that physician gender affects women's receipt of preventive services. Physician specialty appears to be a more powerful predictor of preventive services received. The limited evidence for a physician gender effect, however, is relevant for those women who rely on a family or general practitioner or an internist for regular care.