scholarly journals Gender of internal medicine resident impacts cancer preventive care for women

Author(s):  
Shyanne Hefley ◽  
Tetyana L Vasylyeva ◽  
Maria Salguero ◽  
Saif Al-Humaish ◽  
Karen Cutts ◽  
...  

Mammography and cervical screening are effective methods for early cancer detection in women. Recent reports showed that 69% of women ³45 years had a mammogram in the past 2 years and 16-55% of women had a Pap smear regularly. Internal medicine (IM) physicians are crucial players in women's health management and literature has identified that a physician’s gender impacts patient management in many areas of healthcare.  We investigated mammogram and Pap smear recommendations by IM residents and examined differences in approaching women’s health issues between female and male residents. With IRB approval, one-hundred charts of new female patients were reviewed, which included female patients 45 years or older seen by IM residents for their first visit. All patients completed a questionnaire concerning previous medical conditions and care as part of clinic routine. Patient chart information, recommendations for mammogram and cervical cancer screening by the resident were recorded, along with the gender of the resident and supervising attending.  The mean age of the patients was 61±9.3 years. Female residents were more likely to recommend a mammogram compared to male residents (36.7% and 16.4%, respectively).  No significant differences in Pap smear recommendations were observed between female and male residents (9.3% and 10.1%, respectively). Attending physician’s gender did not influence screening recommendations.  The recommendation rate for female patients to obtain important screening mammograms and Pap smears was low. These results are consistent with previous literature and indicate an urgent need for improved women’s health education in residency, with special attention to male residents.   Keywords: Cancer prevention, Breast cancer, Cervical Cancer, Primary Care, Gender Disparity

BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. e019171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helena M Obermair ◽  
Rachael H Dodd ◽  
Carissa Bonner ◽  
Jesse Jansen ◽  
Kirsten McCaffery

ObjectivesThe incidence and mortality of cervical cancer have halved since introduction of the Australian cervical screening programme in 1991, involving 2-yearly Pap smears from ages 18–69 years. In 2017, the programme changed to 5- yearly primary human papillomavirus (HPV) testing for women aged 25–74 years. This study investigated reasons for opposition to the renewed screening programme within the open-ended comments of an online petition, ‘Stop May 1st Changes to Pap Smears—Save Women’s Lives’, opposing the changes, which received over 70 000 signatures and almost 20 000 comments.MethodsContent analysis of a random sample of 2000 comments, reflecting 10% of the 19 633 comments posted in February–March 2017.ResultsNineteen codes were identified, reflecting four themes: (1) valuing women’s health and rights, (2) political statements, (3) concerns about healthcare funding cuts and (4) opposition to specific components of the new screening programme. The most prevalent codes were: placing value on women’s health (33%), concerns about increasing screening intervals (17%) and opposition to the changes related to personal experiences with cervical cancer or cervical abnormalities (15%). Concern about the key change in technology (HPV testing instead of Pap smears) was expressed in less than 3% of comments, and some opposition to the changes from health professionals was noted.ConclusionsScreening changes within this selected group were perceived as threatening women’s health, as a political policy created by male decision-makers and as a cost-cutting exercise. Many commenters were concerned about increased screening intervals and later screening onset, but little opposition was expressed regarding the testing technology itself. This analysis may inform public education and communication strategies for future changes to cervical screening programmes internationally, to pre-emptively address specific concerns about the changes.


Author(s):  
Jummi Park ◽  
Nayeon Shin

Online-based infertility education provides a health management system to patients using electronic information and technology and no face-to-face interaction with patients and experts. This is a study to develop a web-based integrated support service system to meet the health care and nursing needs of infertile women. To develop a system that is most suitable and practically helpful to infertile women, who are end users of this system, research was conducted. This education system consists of introduction to women’s health care, information on women’s health, information on organizations for women, community for infertile women, and request for consultation for health management and nursing education of infertile women. This study introduced and applied a user-centered design that maximizes the value of use by first understanding the user’s convenience and needs when developing a program.


2019 ◽  
Vol 152 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S143-S143
Author(s):  
Barbara Caldwell

Abstract Introduction This study sought to evaluate the nature and frequency of laboratory recommendations made by medical societies other than ASCP. Methods Review of all 2012 to 2018 ABIM Choosing Wisely (CW) non-ASCP laboratory recommendations and categorization of recommendations per topic area. Results There are 107 total recommendations made by other medical specialties that involve laboratory medicine. The most common recommendations are (1) Transfusion Medicine: to minimize transfusion of PRCs (19 recommendations, 18%); (2) Women’s Health: Pap smear testing, other women’s health testing (18 recommendations, 17%); and (3) General Laboratory: reducing repetitive routine laboratory tests (10 recommendations, 9%). Most (64, 60%) recommendations addressed screening while 29 (27%) focused on treatment and 14 (13%) were related to monitoring disease. Conclusion Almost one-half (44%) of all recommendations fell into three common areas and there were more recommendations related to screening for disease than for treatment or monitoring. For Choosing Wisely to achieve increasing success, increasing efforts are needed to disseminate this information, promote multidisciplinary effective test utilization, and encourage continued laboratory medicine recommendations from all medical stakeholders.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
L Cavazzana ◽  
M Errico ◽  
A Gimigliano ◽  
R Anniverno ◽  
L Bernardo ◽  
...  

Abstract Issue Many diseases show differences in incidence, symptoms, and severity between men and women, combined with a different response to therapies. There are some international experiences of health policies about Gender Medicine, but the practical realizations are few and, for the female sex, usually focused only on fertile age. Description of the problem A Milan hospital (ASST Fatebenefratelli Sacco) decided to dedicate one of its sites, with gynecological and pediatric vocation but also with an Internal Medicine Unit in within, entirely to women's health. The focus of this site is a holistic approach to women's health needs, both physiologic and pathologic. Realized without additional institutional funds, this project was designed between June and October 2019, started in December 2019 and is still ongoing. Results One of the first actions taken was to admit only women in the Internal Medicine Unit. The Unit is now entirely focused on dealing with most frequent female pathologies, in particular on autoimmune, vascular, endocrinology and nephrology conditions. The Mental Health Unit, already specialized in supporting pregnancy and new mothers, is going to activate a “Mother-Baby Unit” to support potential hospitalization issues. Among its major aims, the Occupational Medicine Unit supports female workers in managing maternity leave. New outpatient clinical paths have been planned to strengthen key moments of women's life: developmental age, fertile age, menopause, and senescence. Based on multi-professional teams, these programs are targeted toward age-specific needs and combine knowledge of disease epidemiology with sociological needs. To better face emerging issues, a path is activated for each area every month. Conclusions The birth of the first Italian hospital entirely dedicated to Gender Medicine allows care of women's health on a holistic perspective. This is, indeed, a key step in the general appraisal of Gender Medicine at the national and international levels. Key messages A gender hospital with a holistic approach to women’s health needs, both physiologic and pathologic, was borne in Milan. Integrated clinical paths have been activated to assist women in the key moments of their life (developmental age, fertile age, menopause, and senescence).


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roqia Saleem Maabreh ◽  
Raya Yousef Al-Husban ◽  
Hekmat Yousef Al-Akash ◽  
Noha Al-Shdayfat

Purpose Cervical cancer (CC) is one of the most important health issues faced by women worldwide. The purpose of this study is to identify Jordanian women’s knowledge, barriers and measures pertaining to risk factors and screening choices of CC (Pap smear tests). Design/methodology/approach This study applied a cross sectional design by collecting data from a convenient sample of 200 women between 20 and 70 years of age in health and public centers in Jordan. Data was then analyzed using the descriptive statistical tools of SPSS, version 21. Findings The findings revealed that 55.5% of the participants had no information about the Pap smear, and 75% did not know the risk factors. Moreover, 50% of the sample did not know where to take the test, and 50% reported a lack of encouragement from the husband to undertake the test. More than half of the participants (56.5%) expressed fear that cervical screening would be a painful examination even though they reported not having any previous experience with the test. Originality/value Based on these findings, public education about CC screening is essential, including advertising and a campaign similar to the breast cancer awareness programs in Jordan, as a way of encouraging early screening to improve the health of women.


2005 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 233-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
L C Chingang ◽  
U Bischof ◽  
G Andall-Brereton ◽  
O Razum

In many middle-income countries with a high incidence of cervical cancer, organized screening programmes with the Pap test are being planned. We assessed the knowledge of, and attitudes towards, cervical screening among 63 doctors and 102 randomly selected community members in Trinidad where screening is still opportunistic. Doctors were well informed about cervical cancer, but not all knew the approximate specificity of the Pap test. Many did not routinely discuss the benefits and disadvantages of screening with their clients. Most women had heard of the Pap test, but only 56% knew its purpose; 25% would not participate in screening, stating reasons such as being in menopause or not having symptoms. More information about the aim of screening and the purpose of the Pap test must be communicated. Doctors need to keep their knowledge on screening up-to-date, and offer counselling that helps women to make an informed decision whether or not to participate in screening.


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