Preferences for gender of endoscopist change after screening colonoscopy

Introduction: The gender of the endoscopist may affect willingness to undergo screening colonoscopy. Aim of the study: To evaluate whether screenees have preferences for the gender of the endoscopist performing colonoscopy, and whether these preferences change after the procedure. Material and methods: Consecutive screenees of an opportunistic colonoscopy-based colorectal cancer screening were enrolled. Before and 14 days following the non-sedated colonoscopy, screenees were asked whether they preferred a female or male endoscopist or had no preference. Screenees could not choose the gender of their endoscopist. The main outcome was the rate gender preferences before and following colonoscopy. Results: Of 298 screenees, 291 (98%) had complete data available. Before colonoscopy, 36.7% of women expressed preferences compared with 24.3% of men (p=0.021), and preferred a female endoscopist 7 times more often than male (OR 6.73; 95%CI 1.44-31.46; p=0.015). Overall, screenees’ gender preferences decreased from 30.6% before colonoscopy to 21.3% afterwards (p=0.0005). After colonoscopy, women with preferences decreased to 22.4% (p=0.0003), but the proportion of men (20.1%) was similar (p >0.1). Conclusion: Before colonoscopy, 1/3 of women and 1/5 of men preferred an endoscopist of the same gender. Although the proportion of screenees with a preference decreased after colonoscopy, many screenees kept their preferences.