Preferences and attitudes of Saudi female patients toward the gender of obstetricians and gynecologists

Background: Our aim is to evaluate the preferences and attitudes of Saudi females toward the gender of obstetricians and gynecologists (OB/GYN). Methods: We conducted an observational cross-sectional survey-based study on June-July 2020 among females attending the primary health care clinics in our institution. Results: We analyzed the association between the participants' variable characteristics and their gender preferences. Among 593 respondents, 74% preferred female OB/GYN doctors, while 17.4% have no gender preference and only 8.6% preferred male doctors. The most common reasons for female gender preference were "Issues of personal modesty" (58.2%), followed by "Religious beliefs" (44.7%), and "Females understand the problem better" (23.1%). More than third (40.8%) believed that a career in OB/GYN should be reserved for females. Conclusion: Similar to other Middle East countries, our society has a strong female OB/GYN gender preference and nationwide studies should be carried out and adopting new strategies are important to promote education, enhance workplaces and inaugurate gender equity.