The poll of 1541 people, conducted by YouGov, found that just one in seven women aged between 18 and 34 believe that doctors always take their concerns seriously. When asked the same question, half of men aged 65 and over felt they were always taken seriously.
The polling supports recent reports and surveys which have found that medical misogyny is alive and well in Australia, including a survey by the National Women's Health Advisory Council which revealed two thirds of women experienced gender bias or discrimination in the health system. It found that women often feel dismissed or ignored when they visit a general practitioner, with some reporting they'd been denied treatment, misdiagnosed or coerced into particular treatment options.
A recent investigative series in the Sydney Morning Herald found that women had been forcibly admitted to psychiatric wards after being wrongly branded as mentally disordered and women with life-threatening cancers had been dismissed as anxious, menopausal or malingerers. Over the weekend, The Saturday Paper reported that the Royal Australian College of Medical Practitioners warns that policies which provide more funding for short consultations would worsen the gender pay gap within Australia's health system, where female doctors conduct a higher percentage of longer, more complex consultations.
These examples highlight that medical misogyny is no simple inconvenience but can carry severe – even fatal – consequences.
Key findings:
- There are significant differences between the experience of men and women, and younger people and older people, when they see a doctor.
- The disparity between the satisfaction with GP care between young women and older men is the most extreme.
- One in seven (14%) of women aged 18 to 34 say their medical concerns are always taken seriously.
- 50% of men aged 65+ believe their medical concerns are always taken seriously.
"The experience of young women visiting a doctor in Australia is vastly different to that of an older man," said Skye Predavec, Researcher at The Australia Institute.
"The vast majority of young women feel that they are not always being taken seriously when they are unwell.
"GPs are the first line of defence in our health system. They play a key role in the treatment of a large range of injuries and illnesses. They're also the gatekeeps to most prescription medicines and specialists.
"It can be hard to find a GP and seeing them can be expensive. If they don't take a patient's concerns seriously, then the costs in terms of lost treatment time and seeking a second opinion can be expensive."While countries like the US, Canada, Germany and Ireland have policies to ensure gender analysis is integrated into medical research, Australia has lagged behind.
"We really need structural change to include more research into medical misogyny and other under-researched gendered health issues.
"Medical misogyny risks turning healthcare into a tale of two systems, where young women have a worse experience than older men, starting at the front line – their local doctor's surgery."
