Abstract P1-10-07: Preferences for Gender of Surgeon among Women with Breast Cancer

Abstract

Abstract Background: Hospitals have aggressively recruited and marketed women breast surgeons without evidence that women with breast cancer prefer them. Research about preferences could improve future decision making, with positive effects on patient satisfaction and health outcomes, hospital clinical and financial performance, and surgeon supply and workload distribution. The purpose of this study was to develop a grounded theory of preferences for gender of surgeon among women with breast cancer that is based upon exploratory research guided by two principal research questions: 1. What are the major categories to emerge from interviews with women with breast cancer about preferences for gender of surgeon? 2. How do women with breast cancer form preferences for gender of surgeon? Material and Methods: A university-based survey research unit conducted semi-structured, random digit dialing telephone interviews with 12 Rockland County, NY women age 40-80 regarding factors of importance, including gender, when they actually or prospectively considered what surgeon to visit for breast cancer care. The researcher then used principles of thematic analysis to systematically categorize and make sense of interview data. Institutional review board approvals and multiple methods of verification were both provided for. Results: Women recited both evaluative criteria used to compare surgeons and determinant attributes actually used to differentiate among choices, but gender did not emerge spontaneously in either case. Four categories did emerge: surgeon, hospital, clinical scenario, and office practice. A central category described the relationship between women's preferences and surgeons’ attributes: hierarchy of effects among women's beliefs, feelings, and behaviors. Women informed their preferences through a deliberate, well-informed process of active research, not stereotypes. Discussion: Gender may act to mediate preferences once other threshold categories are accounted for. Future research using quantitative methods is feasible. Hospitals that seek to promote breast surgery services should first, become valued information resources; and second, recruit and market surgeons according to competence and not gender as a principal criterion. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2010;70(24 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-10-07.