How Relevant is Obstetrician and Gynecologist Gender to Women in Saudi Arabia?

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographic Characteristics of the Study Sample

		n	(%)
Nationality	Non-Saudi	62	(27.3)
	Saudi	165	(72.7)
Age in Years	35 and less	146	(64.3)
	36 and above	81	(35.7)
Marital Status	Not Married	16	(7.0)
	Married	211	(93.0)
No. of Children	Less than 5	193	(85.0)
	5 and above	34	(15.0)
Education Level	High school or less	92	(40.5)
	College education	135	(59.5)
Employed	No	170	(74.9)
	Yes	57	(25.1)
Family Income	≤10,000 SAR	173	(76.2)
	>10,000 SAR	54	(23.8)

Table 2 Preferences* for the Choice of Doctor for OB-GYN Care by Demographic Characteristics

		Knowledge and Experience	Religion	Board Certification	Age of Doctor	Gender of Doctor	Personality	Reputation
Nationality	Non-Saudi	90.3%	32.3%	38.7%	12.9%	19.4%	25.8%	43.5%
	Saudi	93.3%	22.0%	50.6%	14.0%	18.3%	23.2%	51.8%
Age in Years	35 and less	93.2%	21.9%	42.5%	15.1%	20.5%	20.5%	47.3%
	36 and above	91.3%	30.0%	56.3%	11.3%	15.0%	30.0%	53.8%
Marital Status	Not Married	87.5%	18.8%	50.0%	6.3%	6.3%	18.8%	68.8%
	Married	92.9%	25.2%	47.1%	14.3%	19.5%	24.3%	48.1%
No. of Children	Less than 5	93.2%	22.4%	45.3%	13.0%	18.2%	22.4%	46.9%
	5 and above	88.2%	38.2%	58.8%	17.6%	20.6%	32.4%	64.7%
Education Level	High school or less	88.0%	33.7%	47.8%	12.0%	19.6%	21.7%	52.2%
	College education	95.5%	18.7%	47.0%	14.9%	17.9%	25.4%	47.8%
Employed	No	91.1%	30.2%	46.2%	15.4%	20.7%	23.1%	47.9%
	Yes	96.5%	8.8%	50.9%	8.8%	12.3%	26.3%	54.4%
Family Income	≤10,000 SAR	92.4%	27.3%	44.2%	16.3%	18.6%	23.8%	48.3%
	>10,000 SAR	92.6%	16.7%	57.4%	5.6%	18.5%	24.1%	53.7%

Note: *Multiple Response factors.

Table 3 Comparison of Gender Preferences of Doctor by Income Level

		Family Income
		≤10,000 SAR			>10,000 SAR
		No Preference	Male	Female	No Preference	Male	Female	P-value
Pelvic Exam	n	47	9	117	13	11	30	0.003
	(%)	(27.2)	(5.2)	(67.6)	(24.1)	(20.4)	(55.6)
OB Care	n	47	18	108	13	10	31	0.284
	(%)	(27.2)	(10.4)	(62.4)	(24.1)	(18.5)	(57.4)
Gyn. Surgery	n	61	20	92	12	15	27	0.010
	(%)	(35.3)	(11.6)	(53.2)	(22.2)	(27.8)	(50.0)
Which doctor you think spends more time with their patients?	n	73	38	62	27	14	13	0.276
	(%)	(42.2)	(22.0)	(35.8)	(50.0)	(25.9)	(24.1)
You are embarrassed to see a gynecologist who is?	n	45	116	12	21	33	0	0.043
	(%)	(26.0)	(67.1)	(6.9)	(38.9)	(61.1)	(0.0)
You are embarrassed to see an obstetrician who is?	n	43	112	18	19	34	1	0.073
	(%)	(24.9)	(64.7)	(10.4)	(35.2)	(63.0)	(1.9)
Which one understands women’s health issues better?	n	43	33	97	12	11	31	0.920
	(%)	(24.9)	(19.1)	(56.1)	(22.2)	(20.4)	(57.4)
Which tends to be more knowledgeable about women’s health?	n	58	31	84	19	14	21	0.334
	(%)	(33.5)	(17.9)	(48.6)	(35.2)	(25.9)	(38.9)
Which one provides better health care?	n	72	44	57	30	12	12	0.173
	(%)	(41.6)	(25.4)	(32.9)	(55.6)	(22.2)	(22.2)
Which one is more organized?	n	70	61	42	23	18	13	0.956
	(%)	(40.5)	(35.3)	(24.3)	(42.6)	(33.3)	(24.1)
Which one do you trust more?	n	72	41	60	24	17	13	0.287
	(%)	(41.6)	(23.7)	(34.7)	(44.4)	(31.5)	(24.1)
If you are seeing a Saudi OB-GYN, who would you prefer?	n	56	23	94	15	12	27	0.279
	(%)	(32.4)	(13.3)	(54.3)	(27.8)	(22.2)	(50.0)
If you are seeing a Non-Saudi OB-GYN who would you prefer?	n	59	21	93	11	14	29	0.022
	(%)	(34.1)	(12.1)	(53.8)	(20.4)	(25.9)	(53.7)

Table 4 Comparisons by Age

		Age in Years
		35 and Less			36 and Above
		No Preference	Male	Female	No Preference	Male	Female	P-value
Pelvic Exam	n	39	7	100	21	13	47	0.015
	(%)	(26.7)	(4.8)	(68.5)	(25.9)	(16.0)	(58.0)
OB Care	n	36	14	96	24	14	43	0.113
	(%)	(24.7)	(9.6)	(65.8)	(29.6)	(17.3)	(53.1)
Gyn. Surgery	n	45	16	85	28	19	34	0.017
	(%)	(30.8)	(11.0)	(58.2)	(34.6)	(23.5)	(42.0)
Which doctor you think spends more time with their patients?	n	59	35	52	41	17	23	0.324
	(%)	(40.4)	(24.0)	(35.6)	(50.6)	(21.0)	(28.4)
You are embarrassed to see a gynecologist who is?	n	37	105	4	29	44	8	0.009
	(%)	(25.3)	(71.9)	(2.7)	(35.8)	(54.3)	(9.9)
You are embarrassed to see an obstetrician who is?	n	35	104	7	27	42	12	0.004
	(%)	(24.0)	(71.2)	(4.8)	(33.3)	(51.9)	(14.8)
Which one understands women’s health issues better?	n	37	23	86	18	21	42	0.178
	(%)	(25.3)	(15.8)	(58.9)	(22.2)	(25.9)	(51.9)
Which tends to be more knowledgeable about women’s health?	n	47	26	73	30	19	32	0.295
	(%)	(32.2)	(17.8)	(50.0)	(37.0)	(23.5)	(39.5)
Which one provides better health care?	n	67	32	47	35	24	22	0.412
	(%)	(45.9)	(21.9)	(32.2)	(43.2)	(29.6)	(27.2)
Which one is more organized?	n	61	49	36	32	30	19	0.870
	(%)	(41.8)	(33.6)	(24.7)	(39.5)	(37.0)	(23.5)
Which one do you trust more?	n	64	30	52	32	28	21	0.056
	(%)	(43.8)	(20.5)	(35.6)	(39.5)	(34.6)	(25.9)
If you are seeing a Saudi OB-GYN, who would you prefer?	n	50	19	77	21	16	44	0.258
	(%)	(34.2)	(13.0)	(52.7)	(25.9)	(19.8)	(54.3)
If you are seeing a Non-Saudi OB-GYN who would you prefer?	n	47	22	77	23	13	45	0.838
	(%)	(32.2)	(15.1)	(52.7)	(28.4)	(16.0)	(55.6)

Figure 1 Multivariate classification tree analysis to test the significance of various demographic characteristics about gender preferences of respondents.