Factors Influencing Female Patients’ Selection of Care Through Women’s Sports Medicine Programs

BACKGROUND: To describe physician- and clinic-specific factors that may influence female patients’ selection of care in a multidisciplinary women’s sports medicine program. METHODS: A cross-sectional anonymous survey was distributed to female patients evaluated by female physicians in a women’s sports medicine clinic over a 2-month time period. Patient demographics, referral sources, influence of physician gender on selection of physician (1-7 Likert scale), and potential contributing factors (binary scale) were recorded. Patient interest in various ancillary multidisciplinary services (each on a binary scale, as below) were recorded and analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 178 female patients (mean age 44.3 +/- 16.6 years) were included in this study. Patients reported 5.4 +/- 4.8 hours of weekly exercise. Physician selection was moderately influenced by a physician’s female sex (4.2 +/- 2.2; 1 being “not influential”, 7 being “most influential”). 75.3% noted some preference (> 1), and 35.3% noted strong preference (6 or 7) for a female physician, with 20.6% reporting female physician sex as the most influential factor in their selection (7). Among self-referred patients, female physician sex played a stronger influence on selection than those referred from other sources (5.3 vs 3.9, p<0.001) with 59.5% reporting strong preference. The most frequently cited reason was “I feel more comfortable with a female physician” (52.0%). Nearly 80% of patients requested access ancillary services, including injury prevention training (50.0%), exercise counseling (48.9%), nutrition counseling (35.4%), sleep specialists (16.9%), hormonal specialists (16.3%), sports psychology (7.3%), and sports cardiology (4.5%). Younger patients (< 40 years) more frequently requested sports psychology compared to older patients (40+ years) (12.2% vs 3.1%, respectively; p=0.020). CONCLUSION: Female patients who were evaluated by female sports medicine physicians in the women’s sports medicine program frequently cited physician sex as a contributing factor in their selection, more so among patients who were self-referred. The majority of patients were interested in access to at least one ancillary service, highlighting the need for multidisciplinary sports medicine care in women’s sports medicine programs.