1. Prevalence of gender-based and sexual harassment within orthopedic surgery in Canada.
- Author
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Giglio V, Schneider P, Bond Z, Madden K, McKay P, Bozzo A, Bhandari M, and Ghert M
- Subjects
- Adult, Canada, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Prevalence, Risk Factors, Societies, Medical, Harassment, Non-Sexual statistics & numerical data, Orthopedic Surgeons statistics & numerical data, Sexism statistics & numerical data, Sexual Harassment statistics & numerical data, Workplace statistics & numerical data
- Abstract
Background: Gender-based and sexual harassment are prevalent in the medical profession. We aimed to quantify the prevalence of such behaviours within orthopedic surgery in Canada and to identify any risk factors for experiencing gender-based or sexual harassment in the workplace., Methods: In collaboration with the Canadian Orthopaedic Association, we conducted a Canada-wide email questionnaire survey in June 2019 of all orthopedic surgeons registered with the Canadian Orthopaedic Association and the Canadian Orthopaedic Residents' Association. The development of our questionnaire was informed by a review of the literature and published surveys on gender-based and sexual harassment, and consultation with researchers in intimate partner violence. We conducted a multivariable logistic regression analysis to identify risk factors for harassment., Results: Of the 1783 surgeons invited to participate, 465 returned the questionnaire (response rate 26.1%); the response rate was 48.1% for females and 22.1% for males. Overall, 331/433 respondents (76.4%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 72%-80%) and 315/423 respondents (74.5%, 95% CI 70%-78%) reported having experienced at least 1 occurrence of gender-based and sexual harassment, respectively. Women were significantly more likely than men to have experienced both gender-based and sexual harassment (odds ratio [OR] 16.2, 95% CI 4.8-54.0, and OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.2-4.0, respectively). Respondents who identified as nonwhite were significantly less likely than those who identified as white to have experienced gender-based harassment (OR 0.5, 95% CI 0.3-0.99)., Conclusion: The prevalence of gender-based and sexual harassment is high within Canadian orthopedic surgery, and women are at highest risk for experiencing harassment. The results may provide the impetus for orthopedic societies to develop action plans and to re-examine and enforce policies to address these damaging behaviours appropriately., Competing Interests: Competing interests: Kim Madden reports a grant from St. Joseph’s Healthcare Foundation and personal fees from OrthoEvidence, outside the submitted work. Mohit Bhandari reports grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Foundation Grant 148388), National Institutes of Health, Physicians’ Services Incorporated Foundation and US Department of Defense, and personal fees from PendoPharm, Bioventus and Acumed, outside the submitted work. Michelle Ghert reports grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Operating Grant 137104), Canadian Cancer Society and Hamilton Academic Health Sciences Organization, and personal fees from Wright Medical Group and Amgen, outside the submitted work. No other competing interests were declared., (© 2022 CMA Impact Inc. or its licensors.)
- Published
- 2022
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