Sexual harassment of oncologists.

Abstract

11001 Background: Few studies have used comprehensive validated measures to investigate the incidence and impact of workplace sexual harassment experienced by physicians (and none, to our knowledge, by oncologists). Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of ASCO’s Research Survey Pool with targeted social media outreach to examine the prevalence and types of sexual harassment (SH) experienced by oncologists. Using the Sexual Experiences Questionnaire (SEQ), we measured their work experience of three SH forms (gender harassment [GH], unwanted sexual attention [USA], sexual coercion [SC]) in the past year by institutional insiders (peers/superiors) and patients/families separately. Controlling for race, career stage & specialty, multivariable (MV) regression models assess the impact of SH (independent variable) on 4 dependent variables of mental health (MHI5), perceptions of workplace safety (single item), job satisfaction (MOAQ) & 3-item measure of turnover intentions (in non-trainees). Results: Of 271 respondents, 250 were physicians in practice and 21 were residents/fellows; 153 (56%] were women, 168 (62%) practiced in academic settings & 227 (84%) were medical oncologists. SH by peers/superiors was reported by 189 (70%) overall, including 80% of women and 56% of men (p<0.0001). GH was reported by 79% of women and 55% of men (p<0.0001), USA by 22% of women and 9% of men (p=0.005), and SC by 3% of women and 2% of men (p=0.42). SH by patients and/or families was reported by 67% of women and 35% of men (p<0.0001), GH by 66% of women and 34% of men (p<0.0001), USA by 5% women and 6% men (p=0.80), and SC by 1% women and 1% men (p=0.72). MV analysis showed past-year SH from peers/superiors was significantly associated with decreased mental health (β -0.45, p 0.004), workplace safety (β -0.98, p<0.001) and increased turnover intentions (β 0.93, P<0.0001). SH from patients/families was similarly significantly associated with mental health (β -0.41, p 0.002), workplace safety (β -0.42, p 0.014) and turnover intentions (β 0.58, p 0.0004). SH from insiders (β -0.64, p 0.001) but not patients (p 0.55) was significantly associated with job satisfaction. Furthermore, there were no significant interactions between the respondents’ gender and the SH scores in any of the models of impact. Conclusions: This is the first study in oncology to systematically characterize the incidence of sexual harassment experienced by oncologists. Our findings demonstrate the impact of sexual harassment on men and women oncologists on multiple domains of workplace experience. This study provides critical data to inform the need for and design of effective protective and preventive workplace policies in oncology.