Clinicians more likely to counsel female cancer patients about fertility risks

[Adelaide]

Clinicians are more likely to discuss reproductive risks with female patients than male patients before starting chemotherapy, a new study shows.

The study, published in JAMA Network Open, gathered data
from the American Society of Clinical Oncology Quality Oncology Practice Initiative, a quality assessment program that surveys around 400 oncology practices biannually, from January 2015 to June 2019.

Of 6,976 patients of reproductive age, 3036 (44 percent) received counseling regarding the risk of infertility associated with chemotherapy.

About 56 percent of the 3,405 women in the study were informed of the infertility risks, compared to only 32 percent of 3,571 male study participants.

Clinicians more likely to counsel female cancer patients about fertility risks, study finds

My brother is infertile due to childhood cancer treatments. As a kid, I promised him I'd have four kids and give him 1 or 2 of them. I have to say, I'm really happy he didn't hold me to that.

At any rate, this isn't totally surprising. I think reproduction is often tied more strongly to women so unconscious bias may exist resulting in a failure to inform males about the same risks. But then I wonder about lurking variables, like whether certain chemotherapy drugs may be more highly correlated to infertility.

[Calypso Jones]

Are these clinicians more likely to be women than men?

Clinician

a health care professional that works as a primary care giver of a patient in a hospital, skilled nursing facility, clinic, or patient's home


A clinician is a health care professional who works as a caregiver of a patient in a hospital, skilled nursing facility, clinic, or patient's home. Clinicians work directly with patients rather than in a laboratory or as a researcher. A clinician may diagnose, treat, and otherwise care for patients. For example, physicians, physician assistants, nurses, nurse practitioners, clinical pharmacists, speech-language pathologists (SLP), and speech-language pathology assistants (SLPA) are clinicians. Midwives can be considered clinicians, although some midwives may emphasize de-medicalizing giving birth. Many clinicians take comprehensive exams to be licensed and some complete graduate degrees in their field of expertise.

I'd have to say considering, female.

This from 2005-2013 and i'm sure it's grown wider between 2013 and now.
https://www.apa.org/workforce/public...3-demographics

Female predominated.

It's on the female then. Is it perhaps antagonism toward males like much of what we see in education and business.

Very interesting. Thanks for posting this information.

[John Galt]

Clinicians more likely to counsel female cancer patients about fertility risks, study finds

My brother is infertile due to childhood cancer treatments. As a kid, I promised him I'd have four kids and give him 1 or 2 of them. I have to say, I'm really happy he didn't hold me to that.

At any rate, this isn't totally surprising. I think reproduction is often tied more strongly to women so unconscious bias may exist resulting in a failure to inform males about the same risks. But then I wonder about lurking variables, like whether certain chemotherapy drugs may be more highly correlated to infertility.

This is interesting, but I'd be interested to know the age of the patients. Perhaps the % have at least something to do with the age? My mother was getting treated for multiple myeloma years ago. Interestingly, thalidomide is an effective treatment.

Some of us are old enough to remember what happened when they used it for morning sickness decades ago.

They asked my mother if she was planning on getting pregnant. Jokingly, I might add.

[Adelaide]

Are these clinicians more likely to be women than men?

Clinician

a health care professional that works as a primary care giver of a patient in a hospital, skilled nursing facility, clinic, or patient's home


A clinician is a health care professional who works as a caregiver of a patient in a hospital, skilled nursing facility, clinic, or patient's home. Clinicians work directly with patients rather than in a laboratory or as a researcher. A clinician may diagnose, treat, and otherwise care for patients. For example, physicians, physician assistants, nurses, nurse practitioners, clinical pharmacists, speech-language pathologists (SLP), and speech-language pathology assistants (SLPA) are clinicians. Midwives can be considered clinicians, although some midwives may emphasize de-medicalizing giving birth. Many clinicians take comprehensive exams to be licensed and some complete graduate degrees in their field of expertise.

I'd have to say considering, female.

This from 2005-2013 and i'm sure it's grown wider between 2013 and now.
https://www.apa.org/workforce/public...3-demographics

Female predominated.

It's on the female then. Is it perhaps antagonism toward males like much of what we see in education and business.

Very interesting. Thanks for posting this information.

I think discussing the risks of treatment falls on the treating physician because they have to get consent; so it probably would depend on what the gender/sex ratio is for oncologists specifically. From what I understand, oncology is a more male-dominated area for physicians.