Colonoscopy choices in a changing world: Do gender preferences still exist for colonoscopy?

Abstract

99 Background: Colorectal cancer screening (CRCs) is an important standard of care in modern medicine. Previous studies performed decades ago have consistently indicated that patients preferred same sex providers for CRCs. However, we are in the era of AI, and societal landscapes are changing rapidly. This prompted us to perform a study to assess patients’ gender preferences (GP) regarding CRCs. Methods: Our study design was a single-center, questionnaire-based, multivariate analysis over four months at various primary care clinics. The survey assessed patients’ gender and their GP for CRCs. Confounders included age (≥50 vs. < 50), race (White [W], African American [AA], Asian [AS], and Other [O]), and family history of CRC. Data analysis was performed by authors not involved in data collection to minimize bias. Results: A total of 453 patients completed the survey; 352 (77.7%) reported no preference for their provider’s gender. In univariate multinomial logistic regression, patient sex was the only significant predictor of provider gender preference. Compared to female patients, male patients had significantly lower odds of preferring a female doctor (RRR=0.19, p< 0.001) and higher odds of preferring a male doctor (RRR=7.30, p< 0.001). Age (≥50 vs. < 50), family history of CRC, and race were not significantly associated with gender preference (p >0.05). Predicted probabilities showed that most patients across racial groups preferred no specific doctor by gender (W: 78.8%, AA: 74.7%, AS: 73.7%, Or: 75.9%). Preference for female doctors ranged from 14.3% to 26.3%, with AS patients showing the highest rate but with wide confidence intervals. Male doctor preference was lowest among AS patients (~0%) and ranged from 6.9% to 8.8% in other groups. Overall, only patient sex significantly influenced provider gender preference. Conclusions: Overall, most of the patients expressed no preference for their provider’s gender, highlighting a growing trend toward gender neutrality in healthcare. Our study did show that male patients were significantly more likely to prefer male providers—and less likely to choose female ones—which underscores the persistence of gender-based biases. However, study was done in a single setting over a fixed period. Future studies with a multicentric approach and larger sample size would further enhance generalizability. Nevertheless, the majority of the patients expressed no GP, which indicates a positive shift towards gender neutrality.