Are women more likely to undergo screening colonoscopy when offered a female doctor? Not necessarily, according to a new study that seems to contradict previous surveys suggesting nearly half of women prefer a female endoscopist.

The study authors, led by Thomas Denberg, MD, vice president of quality and safety for Atrius Health, offered screening colonoscopies to eligible women aged 50 to 69 through a University of Colorado Hospital patient outreach program that involved both letters and phone calls. Some of the women received written and verbal invitations, including at the time of scheduling, to request a female endoscopist for their procedure, while others were not explicitly given the option.

Women who were invited to select a female endoscopist were more likely to do so, but not more likely to undergo the procedure than those who were not invited to choose the sex of their doctor, according to the findings, published in GIE: Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. The difference in screening colonoscopy rates between the 2 groups was only about 2 percentage points: 17% of those invited to choose a female doctor had a colonoscopy vs. 19% of those who were not offered a female doctor.

Because previous surveys have suggested that women, in significant numbers, prefer female endoscopists to perform their colonoscopies, other researchers have concluded that a lack of female providers is a major barrier to screening rates among women. However, Dr. Denberg and colleagues conclude that, based on their findings, "More direct evidence is needed to support the notion that the absence of [female endoscopists] is an important barrier to colorectal cancer screening among women."

Irene Tsikitas

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