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Objective: To determine the relationships between a group of professional and family characteristics and the components of physical and mental health in female and male primary care physicians working in health centers in Andalusia (Spain)., Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional, multicenter study was performed. The population consisted of urban health centers in Andalusia and their physicians. The sample comprised 88 health centers and 500 physicians. Measurements consisted of sex, age, professional characteristics (postgraduate training in family medicine, position of health center manager, accreditation as a residents' tutor, and workload based on patient quota and the mean number of patients/day); family responsibilities, defined by two dimensions of the family-work relationship (support overload-family support deficit and family-work conflict); and perceived physical and mental health. The data source was a self-administered questionnaire sent by surface mail. Multiple regression analyses were performed for physical and mental health for the whole sample and by gender., Results: Responses were obtained from 368 physicians (73.6%). Mental health was worse in female physicians than in male physicians; no differences were found between genders in physical health. The family-work conflict was associated with physical and mental health in physicians of both genders. Physical health deteriorated with increasing age in both genders, improved in the female tutors of residents, and decreased with increasing family-work conflict in male physicians. Mental health decreased with increasing housework on the weekends and with family-work conflict in both genders. In male physicians, mental health deteriorated with postgraduate training in family medicine and improved if they were health center managers., Conclusions: Workload and professional characteristics have little relationship with the health of primary care physicians. Family characteristics play a greater role., (Copyright © 2012 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.)

Background: Studying the work-family relationships is important because it affects the personal and professional life. Women increases in medicine without redistribute domestic tasks and responsibilities. The purpose of this study was to create and validate a scale of work-family relations in women and men family physician (FP) in Andalusia., Methods: Cross sectional and multicenter study. The study population were FP of urban primary care centres, sample=500FP (50% by sex). We studied: sex, age, postgraduate family medicine specialty, care burden (2 variables), and family burden (7 variables). We design, and included in self-administered questionnaires, a scale of 13 questions on work-family relations. Bivariate analysis, exploratory factor and multiple regressions to test the convergent validity was performed., Results: The response rate was 73.6%. We identified two dimensions, Overloading and Family Support Deficit (OFSD) (5 questions), and Work-Family Conflict (WFC) (6 questions), in both, female FP score higher than their peers. There are more family variables associated with both dimensions in female FP, it expresses differences in the complexity of the causes of OFSD and WFC by sex., Conclusion: The scale obtained is valid, reliable and gives two empirical dimensions of family-work relationships.

Background: Although the proportion of women in medicine is growing, female physicians continue to be disadvantaged in professional activities. The purpose of the study was to determine and compare the professional activities of female and male primary care physicians in Andalusia and to assess the effect of the health center on the performance of these activities., Methods: Descriptive, cross-sectional, and multicenter study., Setting: Spain., Population: urban health centers and their physicians., Sample: 88 health centers and 500 physicians., Independent Variable: gender., Measurements: Control variables: age, postgraduate family medicine specialty (FMS), patient quota, patients/day, hours/day housework from Monday to Friday, idem weekend, people at home with special care, and family situation., Dependent Variables: 24 professional activities in management, teaching, research, and the scientific community. Self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive, bivariate, and multilevel logistic regression analyses., Response: 73.6%. Female physicians: 50.8%. Age: female physicians, 49.1 ± 4.3 yrs; male physicians, 51.3 ± 4.9 yrs (p < 0.001). Female physicians with FMS: 44.2%, male physicians with FMS: 33.3% (p < 0.001). Female physicians dedicated more hours to housework and more frequently lived alone versus male physicians. There were no differences in healthcare variables. Thirteen of the studied activities were less frequently performed by female physicians, indicating their lesser visibility in the production and diffusion of scientific knowledge. Performance of the majority of professional activities was independent of the health center in which the physician worked., Conclusions: There are gender inequities in the development of professional activities in urban health centers in Andalusia, even after controlling for family responsibilities, work load, and the effect of the health center, which was important in only a few of the activities under study.

Objective: to determine, for five health problems, whether preference for a male or female general practitioner (GP) is related to patient gender, GP gender and/or patient expectations of GP behaviour., Methods: cross-sectional study in 14 health centres in Spain, administering a questionnaire to 360 patients. Outcome variables were: preference for male GP, female GP or no preference in consultations for five hypothetical health problems., Results: mean age was 47.3 ± 16.5 years, 51% were female. Preference was more frequently expressed by females. Odds ratios (ORs) for a woman preferring a female to male GP ranged from 3 to 508, according to the hypothetical problem, and ORs for a patient with female GP preferring a female GP ranged from 2.8 to 9.1. Patient gender and GP gender had no interactive effect on preferences. Expectations of GP behaviour were related to preferences, except for chest pain. Higher expectations of communication or technical care were associated with greater preference for female or male GP, respectively., Conclusions: patient gender and current GP gender are related to preferences in five hypothetical clinical situations and expectations of GP behaviour to preferences in four of them., Practice Implications: educational strategies are needed to adjust clinical encounters to patients' preferences., (2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)