Gender preference and implications for screening colonoscopy: Impact of endoscopy nurses

Table 1 Demographic and previous medical history of subjects

Demographic data	n (%)
Gender
Male	207 (44)
Female	263 (56)
Race
Malays	370 (78.7)
Chinese	75 (16.0)
Others	25 (5.3)
Educations levels
Higher	169 (36.0)
Lower/none	301 (64.0)
Employments status
Working	356 (75.7)
Not working	114 (24.3)
Marital status
Married	325 (69.1)
Single	129 (27.4)
Others	16 (3.4)
Previous colonoscopy	65 (13.8)
Family history of cancer	93 (19.8)
Gastric	15 (3.2)
Colorectal	35 (7.4)
Breast	17 (3.6)
Obstetric and gynecology	8 (1.7)
Pulmonary	12 (2.6)

Table 2 Factors associated with likelihood for subjects to agree to undergo screening colonoscopy despite their preferences not being met

Parameters	Will undergo SC	P value
Recommended age
Yes	102 (86.4)	0.222
No	287 (81.5)
Gender
Male	180 (87.0)	0.033
Female	209 (79.5)
Race
Malays	308 (81.1)	0.043
Non-malays	81 (90.0)
Education
Higher	134 (79.3)	0.135
Lower/none	255 (84.7)
Marital status
Single	102 (79.1)	0.192
Married/widowed	287 (84.2)
Employment
Yes	294 (82.6)	0.854
No	95 (83.3)
Previous colonoscopy
Yes	62 (95.4)	0.004
No	327 (80.7)
Family history of cancer
Yes	76 (81.7)	0.766
No	313 (83.0)
Family history of CRC
Yes	28 (80.0)	0.652
No	361 (83.0)

SC: Screening colonoscopy; CRC: Colorectal cancer.

Table 3 Multivariate analysis showing willingness to undergo screening colonoscopy despite preferences not being met

Variables	OR	95% CI	P value
Gender
Male vs female	1.68	1.00-2.82	0.049
Race
Malays vs non-malays	1.94	0.910-4.130	0.086
Previous colonoscopy
Yes vs no	4.70	1.41-15.66	0.012

OR: Odd ratio; CI: Confidence interval.

Table 4 Comparison of gender preference during colonoscopy

Authors (yr)	Subjects	Setting	Genders	Population	Gender preference
Fidler et al[14], 2000	Patients undergoing colonoscopy	Endoscopy	Both	United Kingdom	Women (48%) and men (0%)
Varadarajulu et al[15], 2002	Patients undergoing colonoscopy	Endoscopy	Both	United States	Overall (26%): Women (45%) and men (4.3%). No difference post procedure
Menees et al[16], 2005	Subjects not scheduled	Clinics	Female	United States	44.4% expressed preference [endoscopist: Women (43%) and men (1.4%)]
Lee et al[17], 2008	Subjects not scheduled for colonoscopy	Clinics	Female	South Korea	45.5% expressed preference [endoscopist: Women (32.1%) and men (13.4%)]
Schneider et al[18], 2009	Patients undergoing colonoscopy	Endoscopy	Both	United States	Women (42%) and men (24%)
Zapatier et al[19], 2011	Patients not scheduled for colonoscopy	Clinics	Both	United States	Overall (25.7%): Women (30.8%) and men (20.4%); women: Hispanic (35%) and Caucasian; men (20.4%): Hispanic men
Shah et al[20], 2011	Patients not scheduled for colonoscopy	Primary clinics	Both	United States	Patients: Women (53%) and men (27.8%); Health care professionals: Women (43.1%) and men (26.1%)
Present study, 2012	Subjects not scheduled for colonoscopy	Clinics	Both	Southeast Asia	Endoscopists: Women (70%; women 67.7% and men 2.3%); men (62.8%; women 6.8% and 56% men)Assistants: Women (74.5%; women 73.4% and men 1.1%); men (58%; women 8.7% and 49.3% men)