Nearly half of young women report having negative interactions in doctors' office, survey finds

For many young women, a visit to the doctor’s office can be a negative experience.

According to a new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation, some 46% of women between the ages of 18 and 35 who have visited a doctor in the past two years say they’ve experienced a negative interaction with a health care provider. Figures are also high amongst uninsured women, women from low-income households, and women with disabilities or chronic health conditions.

Examples of negative interactions are discrimination on the basis of age, gender, race, or another feature, which was experienced by 9% of women between the ages of 18 and 64 and 5% of men; a doctor thinking a patient was being dishonest, which was experienced by 15% of women and 12% of men; and a provider dismissing a patient’s concerns, which was experienced by 29% of women and 21% of men.

KFF’s new analysis, which was based on a summer 2022 survey of more than 5,100 women and 1,200 men, looked at various aspects of the health care experience, including communication barriers between doctors and patients. For instance, it found that around 21% of women said they had a hard time locating a doctor who explained things in an understandable way. That number was even higher for women with high school degrees or less, young women, and Hispanic women.

Related: A doctor’s view of value-based health care — with William Bestermann, Jr. MD

Likewise, the analysis found that very few women had been asked about social determinants of health at the doctor’s office. Only around 20% of women said their physician had asked them whether they could afford food or access transportation, and just 30% of women said they were asked about whether they were housed.

A higher percentage of younger women and Black and Hispanic women are asked about social determinants of health, according to the new research.