Is Patients' Sexual Orientation a Blind Spot of Family Physicians?

Abstract

Even though certain health needs of gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) patients are unique and different from those of the heterosexual patient, physicians do not usually ask patients about their sexual orientation. This study investigates family physicians' common practice regarding their patients' sexual orientation. Most of the physicians surveyed knew of less than 0.5% GLB patients in their practice; 44.4% did not know of any GLB patients. Only one physician commonly asked his patients about their sexual orientation; other physicians rarely or never asked. Asking patients about their sexual orientation significantly (P < 0.01) predicted the number of GLB patients known to the physician. Asking about patients' sexual orientation is not a common practice for family physicians, and, thus, they are usually unaware of the GLB patients in their practice.

Patient–Provider Communication Barriers and Facilitators to HIV and STI Preventive Services for Adolescent MSM

“…These findings are consistent with reports by physicians that they do not regularly discuss sexual orientation or attractions with patients due to insufficient training in taking sexual histories and widely held misconception that patients would refuse to answer or be offended by questions related to their sexual orientation 50 . 515250 . 535429 .…”

Guidelines for the Primary Care of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual People: A Systematic Review

“…8 This lack of awareness and respect has been described as a "blind spot" among family physicians toward LGB patients, 9 and it leads to reports by LGB people of diffi culty in accessing culturally competent primary care services. 10 LGB-specifi c services have been developed to overcome these defi ciencies 11 ; however, there is a pressing need for mainstream services to become culturally competent in this area.…”

Characterizing Sexual Orientation Disclosure to Health Care Providers: Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Perspectives

“…Finally, patients report that providers do not ask about sexual orientation. Consistent with prior research that states that providers infrequently ask about sexual orientation (Dahan et al, 2008;Mosack et al, 2013), one patient described, "It's never been explicit. I've never really been asked that exact question, 'What is your sexual orientation?'"…”

“…Despite the routine nature of asking about sexual partners as part of primary care interactions, one study of family-practice providers found that 98% of providers rarely ask about sexual orientation (Dahan, Feldman, & Hermoni, 2008). Of these providers, 58% reported that patient orientation was very important to know, 78% reported that patients would want providers to know, and 81% reported difficulty in asking about patient sexual orientation.…”

“…Results echo prior research claiming that providers do not ask about patient orientation. Dahan et al (2008) reported that more than 80% of providers do not know how to ask about orientation. This speaks to an issue of provider communication efficacy to accomplish a communicative goal.…”