DO FEMALE PRIMARY-CARE PHYSICIANS PRACTICE PREVENTIVE CARE DIFFERENTLY FROM THEIR MALE COLLEAGUES

OBJECTIVE To assess whether female primary care physicians' reported c overage of patients eligible for certain preventive care strategies di ffers from male physicians' reported coverage. DESIGN A mailed survey. SETTING Primary care practices in southern Ontario. PARTICIPANTS All primary care physicians who graduated between 1972 and 1988 and practi sed in a defined geographic area of Ontario were selected from the Can adian Medical Association's physician resource database. Response rate was 50%. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Answers to questions on sociodemograph ic and practice characteristics, attitudes toward preventive care, and perceptions about preventive care behaviour and practices. RESULTS In general, reported coverage for Canadian Task Force on the Periodic He alth Examination's (CTFPHE) A and B class recommendations was low. How ever, more female than male physicians reported high coverage of women patients for female-specific preventive care measures (ie, Pap smears , breast examinations, and mammography) and for blood pressure measure ment. Female physicians appeared to question more patients about a gre ater number of health risks. Often, sex of physician was the most sali ent factor affecting whether preventive care services thought effectiv e by the CTFPHE were offered. However, when evidence for effectiveness of preventive services was equivocal or lacking, male and female phys icians reported similar levels of coverage. CONCLUSION Female primary care physicians are more likely than their male colleagues to report t hat their patients eligible for preventive health measures as recommen ded by the CTFPHE take advantage of these measures.