Abstract
Background: Previous studies in the Western world and some Arab countries have shown that women seeking healthcare consider a variety of factors such as physician bedside manner, hospital affiliation, experience, competency, gender, and recommendations from friends among others. The objective of this study is to evaluate factors that affect Lebanese women’s choice of their obstetrician and gynecologist (ob-gyn). Materials and Methods: Quantitative data were collected from 199 respondents after administering a self-completion questionnaire created on “LimeSurvey” and sent via email to a random sample (n=848) of female employees at the American University of Beirut (AUB). SPSS was used to code and analyze the data. Results: Lebanese women value consultation quality (median score (MS) = 92%), convenience (MS = 80%), physician’s educational background (MS = 73.34%) and reputation (MS = 52%), more than physical qualities (MS = 40%), and physician’s gender (MS = 20%). Multivariate analysis showed that younger females care more about consultation quality (p = 0.01), Muslim women and village residents prefer a female physician (p = 0.02 and p = 0.01, respectively), and the woman’s level of education directly relates to the physician’s educational background (p = 0.01). Conclusion: These findings will help medical graduates, program directors, current practitioners, and hospital human resources managers to better understand and cater to the needs of the population they are serving.
Highlights
Several studies in the Western world and in Arab countries have looked at factors that might affect a women’s choice of obstetrician and gynecologist
The literature has focused on the effect of gender on a woman’s choice of ob-gyn [3-5] when some published studies failed to consistently correlate gender preference and the actual gender of the chosen ob-gyn [6, 7], other factors and characteristics began to be studied such as bedside manners, hospital affiliations, experience, and professionalism among others [8, 9]
With an median score (MS) of 92%, the consultation quality determined by a constellation of professionalism, communication skills, involvement in the decision-making, a lengthy consultation, and a clear explication of the interventions to be performed seem to strongly impact the woman’s choice of an ob-gyn
Summary
Several studies in the Western world and in Arab countries have looked at factors that might affect a women’s choice of obstetrician and gynecologist (ob-gyn). The literature has focused on the effect of gender on a woman’s choice of ob-gyn [3-5] when some published studies failed to consistently correlate gender preference and the actual gender of the chosen ob-gyn [6, 7], other factors and characteristics began to be studied such as bedside manners, hospital affiliations, experience, and professionalism among others [8, 9]. In the Arab world, studies have mostly focused on factors affecting a women’s choice of ob-gyn in specific religious groups [3, 10] without looking at a more global view of the matter. Lebanon, being an integral part of the Arab world with various religious groupings, constitutes an adequate setting to study and compare the importance of certain factors across religions
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