The feminization of dentistry and the perceptions of public service users about gender issues in oral health.

Maria Da Graça Kfouri,Marilisa Carneiro Leão Gabardo,Samuel Jorge Moysés,Simone Tetu Moysés,Antonio Carlos Nascimento,Saulo Vinicius Da Rosa

doi:10.1590/1413-812320182411.00832018

Abstract

It was investigated the perception of service users in relation to the professional practice of dentists, based on gender differences. The Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCATool) was applied to 900 users of the Public Service in Curitiba, PR, Brazil. Sixty clinics were selected using random sampling, divided between conventional Primary Health Care (PHC) Units and PHC with Family Health System Units. The attributes of PHC that compound the PCATool were analyzed. A question was added about user preference regarding the gender of the dental professional, thus generating four dyads derived from user gender/dentist gender (FF, FM, MM, MF). The attributes were linked to the dyads by applying the independent sample t test. Using logistic regression, the dyads were linked to 23 factors relating to scaled-up care in PHC. Many users showed a clear preference for being attended by female dentists. Users who prefer to be cared for by women tend to better evaluate PHC on issues related to "active listening", while those who prefer to be cared for by male dentists highlight the attributes of "care integration" and "community guidance". In other factors and attributes studied, there is no difference between the care given by men or women, regardless the unit.

Highlights

The increase in the number of women working in health professions is a phenomenon that occurs in several countries[1,2]
It was found that there were significant statistical differences when comparing the frequencies of all the user/dentist dyads (MM – 14.0%, MF – 27,0%, FF – 47,0%, FM – 12,0%) (p
When analyzing the list of the professionals allocated in the respective Unit of the subjects studied, 98.5% of the stated preferences coincide with the gender of the professional who does care on an everyday basis for each respondent of the sample used in this study

Summary

Introduction

The increase in the number of women working in health professions is a phenomenon that occurs in several countries[1,2]. Women progressively engaged in occupational positions that were considered mostly designed to male dominance a few decades ago[3], as is the case of Dentistry[4,5]. The reasons for this change are many, for example, the insertion of women in the labor market is strongly accentuated from the 1960s onwards, with the struggle of feminist movements and later on as a profession achievement. Unlike the USA and most European countries, women are currently absolute majority in Brazilian Dentistry, corresponding to almost 60% of the number of registered professionals in the whole country[6]. In Brazil the number of new female students and graduating is expressive according to the most recent Sinopse Estatística da Educação Superior 2016 – Synopsis of Higher Education of 201610

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion