Assessing patients’ preferences for gender, age, and experience of their urogynecologic provider

Introduction and hypothesis: Understanding patient preferences regarding provider characteristics is an under-explored area in urogynecology. This study aims to describe patient preferences for urogynecologic care, including provider gender, age, experience, and presence of medical trainees. Methods: This was a multicenter, cross-sectional, survey-based study assessing patient preferences with a voluntary, self-administered, anonymous questionnaire prior to their first urogynecology consult. A 5-point Likert scale addressing provider gender, age, experience, and presence of trainees was used. Descriptive statistics summarized patient characteristics and provider preferences. Chi-squared (or Fisher’s exact) test was used to test for associations. Results: Six hundred fifteen women participated from eight sites including all geographic regions across the US; 70.8% identified as white with mean age of 58.5 ± 14.2 years. Urinary incontinence was the most commonly reported symptom (45.9%); 51.4% saw a female provider. The majority of patients saw a provider 45–60 years old (42.8%) with > 15 years’ experience (60.9%). Sixty-five percent of patients preferred a female provider; 10% preferred a male provider. Sixteen percent preferred a provider < 45 years old, 36% preferred 45–60 years old, and 11% of patients preferred a provider > 60 years old. Most patients preferred a provider with 5–15 or > 15 years’ experience (49% and 46%, respectively). Eleven percent preferred the presence of trainees while 24% preferred trainee absence. Conclusion: Patient preferences regarding urogynecologic providers included female gender and provider age 45–60 years old with > 5 years’ experience. Further study is needed to identify qualitative components associated with these preferences.