When a general practitioner (GP, primary care physician) is female, patients want her to allow them to become involved in the management of their health problem, especially when it is a family health issue or a cold. They dearly expect their family doctor to listen to them, keep them informed, consider their opinions, much more so than participating in decision making, according to researchers from the Department of Biostatistics of the University of Granada, Spain.
The researchers had set out to find out whether patients expected their GPs to take their opinions into account when making decisions in the context of various health problems. They also assessed the influence of the gender factor for patient as well as doctor on such expectations>
360 Patients
For the purpose of this study, researchers took a sample of 360 patients aged 16-47 years assisted at the Health Care Gran Capitán in Granada. 51% were women and 49% were men.
Patient expectations towards their participation in decision making were found to vary depending on the disorder to be treated: thus, when patients suffer chest pain, 32% want to participate in the selection of the treatment and, when there is a serious family health problem the percentage raises to 49%. Women have not got so many expectations when they suffer from depression or when it is a family health problem, and patients that are assisted by a woman physician have greater expectations of participating in problem management when the case is a family health problems or flu.
The participants were given a questionnaire that asked if they expected their family doctor «to listen to them, keep them informed and consider their opinions». Then, they were presented with five situations: sharp chest pain, a cold with fever, abnormal discharge, depression and sadness, and a serious family health problem. They were asked to express their expectations of their involvement in decision making when consulting for the disorders detailed above.
The conclusions drawn of this study were that most patients «want to be listened, informed and considered by their family doctor» and, in a lesser degree «they want to make their own decisions, especially when consulting for biomedical problems».
