Inappropriate Sexual Behaviour of Patients Towards French General Practitioners (#MedTooFr)

Inappropriate Sexual Behaviour (ISB) of Patients Towards French General Practitioners: Prevalence, Nature and Impact on Professional Practice

Occupational sexual harassment (HS) has come to the fore in recent years, particularly with the #MeToo social movement that has encouraged women victims of sexual violence to speak out around the world. The medical profession is not exempt from this phenomenon, whether during the training or professional life of practitioners. In France, very little data is available on this subject, particularly among general practitioners. However, the specific nature of the doctor-patient relationship in general practice makes it a potentially high-risk setting. Furthermore, practitioners' experiences of inappropriate sexual behaviour (ISB) can lead to changes in professional practice, and can thus directly influence the quality of care provided to patients. It is also described in the literature that sexual harassment in physicians is independently associated with a decrease in job satisfaction and sense of security at work, and may be associated with an altered mental health status. To date, the only French studies on ISB and HS in medicine have focused on the period of medical study, and none have looked at the particular problem of the patient as perpetrator of the violence. It is in this context that it has been decided to set up this cross-sectional study with the aim of evaluating the prevalence of ISB occurring during consultations with French general practitioners, to describe their characteristics and to evaluate the responses provided and the repercussions on professional practice.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Sex Behavior
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Questionnaire

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 570

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Réunion
  • Saint-Pierre, Réunion
    • CHU de la Réunion

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: N/A
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

General practitioners in private practice in France.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Any general practitioner
• Male or female
• Sole or mixed private practice
• Installed or substitute
• Having completed their internship in general medicine
• With or without a thesis
• Practising alone, in a group practice or in a health centre -

Exclusion Criteria:

• Specialty other than general medicine
• Exclusive hospital or salaried activity
• Refusal to participate

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Prevalence and nature of inappropriate sexual behaviour of patients towards general practitioners in private practice in France	Determined by auto-administered questionnaire (sociodemographic data, personal experience, author's characteristics, reactions and answers provided by the practitioners)	Once at the inclusion visit

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Prevalence and nature of Inappropriate sexual behavior between men and women	To compare the prevalence and nature of Inappropriate sexual behavior according to the gender of the responding physicians determined by auto-administered questionnaire	Once at the inclusion visit

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Risk factors associated with sexual inapropriate behavior	Identify the risk factors associated determined by auto-administered questionnaire (author's characteristics provided by the practitioners)	Once at the inclusion visit
Responses of general practitioners to such a situation	Types of responses provided by general practitioners to such a situation determined by auto-administered questionnaire (answers provided by the practitioners)	Once at the inclusion visit
Impact and changes on professional practice and personal life.	Describe the impact and changes on professional practice and personal life determined by auto-administered questionnaire (reactions provided by the practitioners)	Once at the inclusion visit

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de la Réunion

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 15, 2022
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 15, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): March 22, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 4, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 4, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): November 16, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 1, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 31, 2022
• Last Verified: March 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 2021/CHU/18

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No