European Journal of General Practice (Oct 2017)
The readiness of German GPs to recommend and conduct cancer screening is associated with patient–physician gender concordance. Results of a survey
Abstract
Background: Cancer screening participation rates in Germany differ depending on patients’ gender. International studies have found that patient–physician gender concordance fosters recommendation and conducting of cancer screening, and especially cancer screening for women. Objectives: We aimed to ascertain whether gender concordance influences general practitioners' (GPs’) rating of the usefulness of cancer screening, as well as their recommendations and readiness to conduct cancer screening in general practice in Germany. Methods: For an exploratory cross-sectional survey, 500 randomly selected GPs from all over Germany were asked to fill in a questionnaire on cancer screening in general practice between March and June 2015. We asked them to rate the usefulness of each cancer screening examination, how frequently they recommended and conducted them and whether they viewed GPs or specialists as responsible for carrying them out. We used multiple logistic regression to analyse gender effect size by calculating odds ratios. Results: Our study sample consisted of 139 GPs of which 65% were male. Male and female GPs did not differ significantly in their rating of the general usefulness of any of the specified cancer screening examinations. Male GPs were 2.9 to 6.8 times as likely to consider GPs responsible for recommending and conducting PSA testing and digital rectal examinations and were 3.7 to 7.9 times as likely to recommend and conduct these examinations on a regular basis. Conclusion: Patient–physician gender concordance made it more likely that male-specific cancer screenings would be recommended and conducted, but not female-specific screenings. KEY MESSAGES Male GPs are more likely than female GPs to view GPs as responsible for recommending and conducting male-specific cancer screening. Men consult urologists less frequently than women consult gynaecologists, so male GPs seem to take on the role of ‘doctor for men’.
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