Table 1 Demographic and clinical characteristics
| Mean ± SD, or N (%) | Total participants N = 500 | Prefer female breast surgeon N = 141 |
Prefer male breast surgeon N = 54 No preference N = 305 | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) | 50.6 ± 15.4 | 46.4 ± 14.2 | 52.2 ± 15.5 | 0.0001 |
| Indications: | NS | |||
| Routine examination | 217 (46 %) | 61 (28.1 %) | 156 (71.9 %) | |
| Previous surgery | 76 (16.1 %) | 19 (25 %) | 57 (75 %) | |
| Mastitis | 11 (2.3 %) | 4 (36.4 %) | 7 (63.6 %) | |
| Prior to fertility treatments | 17 (3.6 %) | 3 (17.6 %) | 14 (82.4 %) | |
| Family history of breast cancer | 35 (7.4 %) | 14 (40 %) | 21 (60 %) | |
| Pathological biopsy or imaging | 54 (11.4 %) | 10 (18.5 %) | 44 (81.5 %) | |
| Other indications | 62 (13.1 %) | 18 (29 %) | 44 (71 %) | |
| Religion: | NS | |||
| Jewish | 429 (87.7 %) | 119 (27.7 %) | 310 (72.3 %) | |
| Christian | 24 (4.9 %) | 5 (20.8 %) | 19 (79.2 %) | |
| Muslim | 25 (5.1 %) | 11 (44 %) | 14 (56 %) | |
| Other | 11 (2.2 %) | 3 (27.3 %) | 8 (72.7 %) | |
| Religious status: | NS | |||
| Secular | 267 (56.3 %) | 65 (24.3 %) | 202 (75.7 %) | |
| Religious | 150 (31.6 %) | 41 (27.3 %) | 109 (72.7 %) | |
| Extremely religious | 57 (12 %) | 21 (36.8 %) | 36 (63.2 %) | |
| Marital status: | 0.016 | |||
| Non- married | 148 (30 %) | 30 (20.3 %) | 118 (79.7 %) | |
| Married | 346 (70 %) | 108 (31.2 %) | 238 (68.8 %) | |
| Education: | NS | |||
| Primary school | 41 (8.5 %) | 6 (14.6 %) | 35 (85.4 %) | |
| High school | 125 (26 %) | 36 (28.8 %) | 89 (71.2 %) | |
| College | 86 (17.9 %) | 31 (36 %) | 55 (64 %) | |
| University | 228 (47.5 %) | 62 (27.2 %) | 166 (72.8 %) | |
| Gender of the regular surgeon | 0.0001 | |||
| Male | 320 (64 %) | 60 (18.8 %) | 260 (81.3 %) | |
| Female | 110 (22 %) | 58 (52.7 %) | 52 (47.3 %) | |
| Gender of the gynecologist | 0.009 | |||
| Male | 246 (49.2 %) | 56 (22.8 %) | 190 (77.2 %) | |
| Female | 215 (43 %) | 73 (34 %) | 142 (66 %) | |
| Gender of the family physician | 0.025 | |||
| Male | 205 (41 %) | 46 (22.4 %) | 159 (77.6 %) | |
| Female | 283 (56.6 %) | 90 (31.8 %) | 193 (68.2 %) |