Patient Preference For Gender In Health Care: Doctors And Nurses

Abstract

Aim: The study is conducted in a descriptive design to examine the gender preferences for doctors and nurses and the reasons for gender preferences of patients receiving health care in inpatient clinics Method: The universe of the study is the patients who were admitted to the state hospitals in the Mardin province and Kızıltepe district. The sample consisted of 600 patients aged 18 and older who were hospitalized and agreed to participate in the research. The data were collected through a face-to-face interview using a questionnaire. SPSS Statistics 21 program was used in the analysis of the data, the data were analyzed with a significance level of p<0.05, at the 95% confidence interval. Results: Most of the patients (50.3%) who participated in the study were male and married (70.5%). The mean age of the participants was 43.86 years (SD=18.12, Min=18, Max=90). When the patients' attitudes towards gender and the distribution of personal characteristics in their preferences for nurses and doctors were examined, the rate of female nurse preference was higher in males (20.1%) than in females (61.3%). The majority of male patients (61.2%) stated that they were undecided about gender preference. It was determined that the majority of both female (40.4%) and male (56.7) patients preferred a male doctor. The chi-square test revealed that there was a statistically significant correlation between the patients’ preference for both nurses and doctors and the gender of the patients (p<0.001). Conclusion: While there is a tendency towards female nurses in the nurse preference of the patients participating in the study, it is seen that there is a tendency towards male doctors in their doctor preferences. When examining the reasons for gender preference, it is noteworthy to find that "privacy" is stated first. It is seen that female patients prefer female nurses and male patients prefer male nurses. © 2023 The Authors.