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. 1998 Dec;7(4):360–363. doi: 10.1136/tc.7.4.360

Influence of physician and patient gender on provision of smoking cessation advice in general practice

J Young 1, J Ward 1
PMCID: PMC1751450  PMID: 10093168

Abstract

OBJECTIVE—To examine the association between physician and patient gender and physicians' self-reported likelihood of providing smoking cessation advice to smokers using hypothetical case scenarios in primary care.
DESIGN—Cross-sectional analysis of a self-administered questionnaire.
SUBJECTS—National random sample of Australian general practitioners (GPs).
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES—Self-reported likelihood of advising hypothetical male and female smokers to stop smoking during a consultation for ear-syringing ("opportunistic" approach) or a dedicated preventive health "check up".
RESULTS—855 GPs returned questionnaires (67% response rate). Significantly more respondents indicated they would be "highly likely" to initiate an opportunistic discussion about smoking with a male smoker (47.8% (95% confidence intervals (CI) = 44.5 to 51.2)) than a female smoker (36.3% (95% CI = 33.1 to 39.5]). Older, male GPs were less likely to adopt an opportunistic approach to smoking cessation for patients of either sex. Respondents were more likely to recommend that a male patient return for a specific preventive health check up. Furthermore, in the context of a health check up, a greater proportion in total of respondents indicated they would be "highly likely" to discuss smoking with a man (86.9%, 95% CI = 84.5 to 89.0) than a female smoker (82.5%, 95% CI = 79.8 to 84.9).
CONCLUSIONS—As measured by physician self-report, the likelihood of advising smokers to quit during primary care consultations in Australia appears to be influenced by gender bias. Gender-sensitive strategies to support cessation activities are recommended.


Keywords: smoking cessation; gender; general practitioners

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Selected References

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