Exploring the impact of surgeon-reported gender on palliative care utilization in geriatric trauma patients

Abstract

Introduction: Geriatric trauma research increasingly supports the use of Palliative Care (PC). We surveyed trauma surgeon for perspectives on PC usage. Significant gender differences were identified, necessitating post-hoc investigation. Methods: A post-hoc gender comparative analysis was completed on data collected from a national survey of trauma surgeons investigating decision-making and barriers to PC consults for geriatric trauma. Results: Sixty-four members responded (2.8 ​%). Women surgeons identified reason for a PC consult as: “when trauma team does not agree with patient/family wishes” (p ​= ​0.009), “different members of the team do not agree on the plan of care” (p ​= ​0.023) and “additional patient/family support needed” (p ​= ​0.023). Women respondents more commonly reported PC consultation barriers as: “Patient/family misconception of PC” (p ​= ​0.001), “concern that patient/family will lose hope” (p ​= ​0.014) and “no barriers to PC consults in my practice” (p ​= ​0.029). Conclusions: The identified gender differences in PC consultation use and barriers provides interesting data to support further studies specifically investigating these observations.