Gender and Sex in Medical Practice: An Exploratory Study on Knowledge, Behavior, and Attitude among Sicilian Physicians
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Design, Survey Target Sample and Dissemination Strategy
2.2. Questionnaire
2.3. Ethical Considerations
2.4. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Group | Medical Specialties |
---|---|
Group I | Rheumatology, Allergology and Clinical immunology, Oncology |
Group II | Neurology, Child and adolescent psychiatry, Psychiatry |
Group III | Endocrinology and diabetology, Gastroenterology, Pulmonology, Radiology, Urology, Nephrology, Cardiology, Internal medicine |
Group IV | Pediatrics, Obstetrics and gynecology, Neonatology |
Group V | Audiology and phoniatrics, Otorhinolaryngology, Ophthalmology, Dentistry, Stomatology |
Group VI | Geriatrics, Family and general medicine (general practitioners), Epidemiology and public health, Medical guard, Health services organization, Community medicine, Without specialty |
Group VII | Palliative care, Infectious diseases, Dermatology and venereology, Orthopedics and traumatology, Physical medicine and rehabilitation, Sports medicine, Food science and dietetics, Emergency medicine and surgery, Legal medicine, Occupational medicine, Intensive care medicine, Maxillofacial surgery, Plastic and reconstructive surgery, General surgery |
Item # | Questions and Answers |
---|---|
ITEM #1 | Do you know what gender medicine deals with? |
□ No, □ Yes, | |
ITEM #2 | In clinical practice, does the knowledge of the differences between sex and gender improve the ability to treat patients? |
☐ No, ☐ Maybe, ☐ Yes, | |
ITEM #3 | In your opinion, does most of the medical knowledge come from studies conducted mainly on men? |
☐ No ☐ I do not know, ☐ Yes | |
ITEM #4 | Do you think that pharmacological therapies should be differentiated by gender? |
☐ No, ☐ I do not know, ☐ Yes | |
ITEM #5 | Do you think there are gender differences (demonstrated by EBM) in the presentation of myocardial infarction symptoms? |
☐ No, ☐ I do not know, ☐ Yes | |
ITEM #6 | Have you ever used different strategies in the treatment of cigarette smoking cessation, as stated by gender differences (demonstrated by EBM)? |
☐ No, ☐ I do not know, ☐ Yes | |
ITEM #7 | In your opinion, should the training of doctors include specific transversal topics on sex and gender differences? |
☐ No, ☐ I do not know, ☐ Yes | |
ITEM #8 | Would you like to take courses or events to increase your knowledge on this topic? |
☐ No, ☐ Maybe, ☐ Yes, | |
ITEM #9(8.1) | If 8.1 is No, why? |
☐ I do not believe in gender medicine (A)☐ I do not believe this is the best way for my update (B)☐ I am aware of the differences between sex and gender in medicine (C)☐ Other (D) |
Group | n % | Women | Total | Men | Total | Total | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Age ≤ 50 | Age >50 | ≤50 | >50 | |||||
Group I | n | 4 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 11 |
% | 57.1 | 42.9 | 63.6 | 50 | 50 | 36.4 | 2.2 | |
Group II | n | 9 | 16 | 25 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 31 |
% | 36 | 64 | 80.6 | 0 | 100 | 19,4 | 6,3 | |
Group III | n | 10 | 7 | 17 | 6 | 24 | 30 | 47 |
% | 58.8 | 41.2 | 36.2 | 20 | 80 | 63.8 | 9.5 | |
Group IV | n | 6 | 9 | 15 | 2 | 21 | 23 | 38 |
% | 40 | 60 | 39.5 | 8.7 | 91.3 | 60.5 | 7.7 | |
Group V | n | 5 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 14 | 17 | 26 |
% | 55.6 | 44.4 | 34.6 | 17.6 | 82.4 | 65.4 | 5.2 | |
Group VI | n | 56 | 78 | 134 | 29 | 95 | 124 | 258 |
% | 41.8 | 58.2 | 51.9 | 23.4 | 76.6 | 48.1 | 52 | |
Group VII | n | 20 | 34 | 54 | 8 | 23 | 31 | 85 |
% | 37 | 63 | 63.5 | 25.8 | 74.2 | 36.5 | 17.1 | |
TOTAL | n | 110 | 151 | 261 | 50 | 185 | 235 | 496 |
% | 42.1 | 57.9 | 52.6 | 21.3 | 78.7 | 47.4 | 100 |
ITEM# | Answer | TOTAL N. (Answers/Total Responders) (%) | Women N. (Answers/Total Women Responders) (%) | Men N. (Answers/Total Men Responders) (%) |
---|---|---|---|---|
ITEM#1 | No | 143 (28.8) | 81 (56.6) | 62 (43.4) |
Yes | 353 (71.2) | 180 (51) | 173 (49) | |
ITEM#2 | No | 15 (3) | 8 (53.3) | 7 (46.7) |
Maybe | 45 (9) | 29 (64.4) | 16 (35.6) | |
Yes | 436 (88) | 224 (51.4) | 212 (48.6) | |
ITEM#3 | No | 144 (29) | 75 (52.1) | 69 (47.9) |
I don’t know | 144 (29) | 76 (52.8) | 68 (47.2) | |
Yes | 208 (42) | 110 (52.9) | 98 (47.1) | |
ITEM#4 | No | 77 (15.6) | 37 (47.1) | 40 (51.9) |
I don’t know | 27 (5.4) | 18 (67.7) | 9 (33.3) | |
Yes | 392 (79) | 206 (52.5) | 186 (47.5) | |
ITEM#5 | No | 91 (18.4) | 36 (39.6) | 55 (60.4) |
I don’t know | 130 (26.2) | 71 (54.6) | 59 (45.4) | |
Yes | 275 (55.4) | 154 (56) | 121 (44) | |
ITEM#6 | No | 331 (66.7) | 178 (53.8) | 153 (46.2) |
I don’t know | 58 (11.7) | 32 (55.2) | 26 (44.8) | |
Yes | 107 (21.6) | 51 (47.7) | 56 (52.3) | |
ITEM#7 | No | 29 (5.9) | 16 (55.2) | 13 (44.8) |
I don’t know | 28 (5.6) | 14 (50) | 14 (50) | |
Yes | 439 (88.5) | 231 (52.6) | 208 (47.4) | |
ITEM#8 | No | 30 (6) | 11 (36.7) | 19 (63.3) |
Maybe | 106 (21.4) | 46 (43.4) | 60 (56.6) | |
Yes | 360 (72.6) | 204 (56.7) | 156 (43.3) | |
ITEM#9 * | (A) | 9/30 * (30) | 3 (33.3) | 6 (66.7) |
(B) | 5/30 * (16.7) | 2 (40) | 3 (60) | |
(C) | 6/30 * (20) | 1 (16.7) | 5 (83.3) | |
(D) | 10/30 * (33.3) | 5 (50) | 5 (50) |
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Campisi, G.; Buttacavoli, F.; Attanasio, M.; Milioto, M.; Radosti, S.; Amato, S.; Panzarella, V. Gender and Sex in Medical Practice: An Exploratory Study on Knowledge, Behavior, and Attitude among Sicilian Physicians. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20, 827. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010827
Campisi G, Buttacavoli F, Attanasio M, Milioto M, Radosti S, Amato S, Panzarella V. Gender and Sex in Medical Practice: An Exploratory Study on Knowledge, Behavior, and Attitude among Sicilian Physicians. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2023; 20(1):827. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010827
Chicago/Turabian StyleCampisi, Giuseppina, Fortunato Buttacavoli, Massimo Attanasio, Mirella Milioto, Silvia Radosti, Salvatore Amato, and Vera Panzarella. 2023. "Gender and Sex in Medical Practice: An Exploratory Study on Knowledge, Behavior, and Attitude among Sicilian Physicians" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 20, no. 1: 827. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010827