Doctors: The Waiting Keeps Men Away

For women, it's more a matter of money, a new study finds

(HealthDay is the new name for HealthScoutNews.)

TUESDAY, July 8, 2003 (HealthDayNews) -- What keeps Americans away from the doctor's office?

New research suggests financial worries are most likely to keep women at home. But men, less likely to visit the doctor in the first place, are more concerned about wasting time in the waiting room.

Men have second thoughts about seeing the doctor if their previous office visits required them to wait more than 30 minutes, the researchers found.

"Men cannot stand waiting that long, but that doesn't affect women at all. That doesn't prevent women from going to see a doctor," says study co-author K. Tom Xu, an assistant professor at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.

The findings provide new understanding about the challenges facing patients, says study co-author Tyrone F. Borders, also an assistant professor Texas Tech. "Let's say you have diabetes or hypertension and you can't see a doctor because of your income if you're a woman, or long waiting times if you're a man. You may not be able to get the problem treated, and you may suffer with the consequences."

The researchers launched their study to better understand why men and women adopt different approaches to medical care. While medical experts say neither gender is much sicker than the other, a whopping 77 percent of women visit the doctor at least once a year, compared to just 60 percent of men, according to a 1996 national study.

"You wouldn't get a man coming into the office unless they're really sick. They tend to wait longer [between visits] than women even if they have a pain or real problem," says Dr. Albert Ray, a San Diego family physician and member of the board of directors of the Southern California Permanente Medical Group.

Xu and Borders examined other statistics from the 1996 study to determine what factors keep patients from going to the doctor. They report their findings in the July issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

In one statistical analysis, women who made less than $20,000 a year were 20 percent to 24 percent less likely than other women to have gone to the doctor in 1996.

Lower income made much less difference for men; they were much more concerned about sitting in the waiting room amid all those sick people and old magazines. They were 30 percent less likely to go to the doctor at least once if they had to wait more than a half hour during their last visit. "They cannot stand waiting that long," Xu says.

Women were only 5 percent less likely to go if they'd suffered through a long wait.

The findings don't surprise Ray. "Men are a different species. They don't want to come to the doctor. They've either got to be dying or forced into coming by a wife or employer," he says. "When they do come in, they don't look at the financial part of it. They look at, 'How can I fit this into my busy schedule?' "

Men are also more impatient, he says. "There's no question that men want to be seen [quickly]. A man won't wait as long as a woman."

Women, on the other hand, "aren't afraid of going to the doctor," Ray says. "I attribute it to women having children and babies. They're used to having a preventative mindset."

Men need to develop a similar world view, he says, because they do need to get routine checkups. "There's more of an awareness that men have to come in for their prostate, colon, cholesterol, blood pressure -- that's coming along very slowly," Ray says.

More information

Learn more about women's health from The National Women's Health Information Center. For men's health, try the Men's Health Network.

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