Profession
Study examines role of gender in CHD treatment
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Nov. 12, 2007
Male physicians are less influenced by patient gender when diagnosing and making treatment decisions about coronary heart disease than female physicians, according to a new study in the journal Sociology of Health & Illness.
Researchers showed 112 male and female doctors -- half in the U.S., half in the U.K. -- videotaped vignettes of actors playing patients with CHD and asked them to make diagnosis and treatment decisions. The study, recently published online, found that female doctors recalled more overall patient cues than male doctors and paid more attention to how CHD patients of both genders -- and particularly females -- presented verbal histories.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/11/12/prbf1112.htm.
