Association between gender and medical factors and the resolution of medical problems

Objectives. We know very little about how best to react to medical disputes in order to resolve them at an early stage. Therefore, in order to examine negotiation styles, this study examined how gender and medical factors affect the consequences of telephone consultations. Methods. We used telephone consultation data for a medical association in Japan for the period from January 2000 to December 2001. Associations between relevant variables, such as the gender of the caller or consultant, and the consultant's medical experience, and the consequences of telephone consultations were examined using the chi-squared test or multiple logistic regression analysis. Results. The analyses showed that: the gender of the consultant was related to outcome (p = 0.04 and 0.01); the type of consultant (i.e., MD or non-MD) was related to outcome (p < 0.001); and the type of consultation was related to outcome (p < 0.001 and p = 0.01). Conclusion. Female gender and being a physician were related to problem resolution in telephone consultations, implying that straightforward attitudes toward problems and medical knowledge are important for resolving medical disputes. Since the patients who used telephone consultations had a problem with a doctor other than the one they consulted by telephone, further study is necessary to verify whether these points are applicable in regular face-to-face consultations.