Oncology patients' preferences regarding sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) disclosure and room sharing.
Koshy Alexander, Chasity B Walters, Smita C Banerjee
PMID 31862127WHAT IT FOUND
Most cancer patients are willing to answer questions about their sexual orientation and gender identity, but prefer different methods for each.
They want staff to ask about sex and gender verbally, but prefer to self-report pronouns and sexual orientation online. Comfort sharing rooms varied by gender.
Key findings
01Participants reported favorable perceptions regarding answering SOGI questions, with average scores between 4.36 and 4.53 on a 1-5 scale.
02Most participants preferred verbal questioning for gender identity and sex assigned at birth, but preferred online self-reporting for pronouns and sexual orientation.
03Cisgender men were significantly more comfortable sharing a room with a transgender man than cisgender women were sharing with a transgender woman.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample was predominantly older (mean age 72.55), heterosexual (87.6%), and cisgender (100%), limiting generalizability to younger or sexual and gender minority populations. The study was conducted at a single institution in a liberal urban area, which may not reflect attitudes in other settings. 25% of approached patients declined participation, introducing potential self-selection bias toward more accepting individuals. Analyses could not be performed to examine differences based on sexual orientation or race due to low variability in the sample.
Declared interests
None declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume all patients prefer the same disclosure method. While many are comfortable with verbal questions about gender and sex assigned at birth, a significant portion prefers self-reporting pronouns and sexual orientation online. Also, do not generalize these comfort levels to all populations, as the sample was largely older, heterosexual, and cisgender.