US women prefer female ob/gyns: survey

May 6, 2001

By Suzanne Rostler

NEW YORK, May 01 (Reuters Health) - Nearly half of US women report a

preference for a female obstetrician/gynecologist (ob/gyn) while about 15%

say they would choose a male doctor, results of a national survey reveal.

Younger women were slightly more likely to choose a female doctor, the

survey of US women aged 18 to 65 found. Indeed, more than half (53%) of

women aged 18 to 29 said they prefer a female doctor, compared with 39% of

women aged 55 to 65, according to the results released Tuesday by the

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).

" A lot of young women, as they transition from a pediatrician to a

gynecologist, might feel more comfortable with someone their own gender, "

Dr. , past president of ACOG, told Reuters Health.

Older women, on the other hand, are probably used to seeing a male doctor

because women have only recently begun to make substantial inroads into the

field, he said.

Indeed, more women are choosing to become ob/gyns than ever before. Women

account for more than two thirds of ACOG's membership and 68% of all ob/gyn

residents were female in 1999, according to .

In other findings, the majority of women under 30 (69%) were more likely to

express a preference for a doctor who was older than they were, compared

with 39% of all women. Slightly more than one third of women said they had

no preference about their doctor's age.

The survey also found that only 27% of women said they used the Internet to

gather information to take to their ob/gyn.

And two thirds of women said their ob/gyn spends enough time with them

during appointments. When asked to grade their doctors in different areas,

66% of women gave their doctor an " A " for time spent with patients but 12%

gave their doctor a grade of " C " or below.

said he is not surprised that some women feel rushed.

" Physicians feel stressed by the demands of managed care, " he said, adding

that some institutions impose time limits on appointments.

For the most part, the women surveyed were satisfied with their care. More

than three quarters of women surveyed gave their doctor a grade of " A " when

it came to bedside manner and medical knowledge and skills.

And 93% of women said they would recommend their doctor to a friend.

The results are based on interviews with 1,000 US women.

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