Female Patients Value Good Communication Over Pain?

Men and women want different things from their doctor and this, in turn, may affect their surgical outcomes, researchers reported at the 2017 annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) in San Diego this week.

"Interestingly, there are differences in perception of care between men and women," said Michael A. Mont, M.D., study author and chairman of orthopedic surgery at the Cleveland Clinic.

The report is based on a Press Ganey analysis of 288 men (mean age 61 years) and 424 women (mean age 62 years) who underwent total hip arthroplasty between November 2009 and January 2015. The objective was to measure overall hospital satisfaction based on communication with nurses, communication with doctors, responsiveness, environment, pain control and medications.

Patients were asked a series of questions which they scored 1 (lowest satisfaction) through 4 (highest satisfaction). The men and women had comparable mean hospital satisfaction scores, and there were no significant differences in the grading of nurse communication, staff responsiveness, doctor communication, hospital environment, pain management, and communication about medication.

Women value staff responsiveness and communication with attending nurses above all else, but men value pain management more than other factors researchers measured to determine overall hospital satisfaction.

Patient Satisfaction Rates

Men:  Pain (.317); Responsiveness (.258);  Nurses (.244); Environment (.126); Doctor (.062); Medications (-.048)

Women:  Responsiveness (.451); Nurses (.373); Doctor (.236); Environment (.109); Medications (.067); Pain (-.232)

In 2012, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services shifted from a fee-for-service to a fee-for-performance model. As a result, patient satisfaction will play a role in determining reimbursement rates. 

References:

Chukwuweike Gwam, Morad Chughtai, Anton Khlopas, et. al. "Does Gender Influence how Patients Rate their Patient Experience after Total Hip Arthroplasty?" 2017 annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) in San Diego. March 2017.