PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
BACKGROUND: Doctor review websites have become increasingly popular as a source of information for patients looking to select a primary care provider. Zocdoc is one such platform that allows patients to not only rate and review their experiences with doctors but also directly schedule appointments. This study examines how several physician characteristics including gender, age, race, languages spoken in a physician\'s office, education, and facial attractiveness impact the average numerical rating of primary care doctors on Zocdoc.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between physician characteristics and patient satisfaction ratings on Zocdoc.
METHODS: A data set of 1455 primary care doctor profiles across 30 cities was scraped from Zocdoc. The profiles contained information on the physician\'s gender, education, and languages spoken in their office. Age, facial attractiveness, and race were imputed from profile pictures using commercial facial analysis software. Each doctor profile listed an average overall satisfaction rating, bedside manner rating, and wait time rating from verified patients. Descriptive statistics, the Wilcoxon rank sum test, and multivariate logistic regression were used to analyze the data.
RESULTS: The average overall rating on Zocdoc was highly positive, with older age, lower facial attractiveness, foreign degrees, allopathic degrees, and speaking more languages negatively associated with the average rating. However, the effect sizes of these factors were relatively small. For example, graduates of Latin American medical schools had a mean overall rating of 4.63 compared to a 4.77 rating for US graduates (P<.001), a difference roughly equivalent to a 2.8% decrease in appointments. On multivariate analysis, being Asian and having a doctor of osteopathic medicine degree were positively associated with higher overall ratings, while attending a South Asian medical school and speaking more European and Middle Eastern languages in the office were negatively associated with higher overall ratings.
CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the findings suggest that age, facial attractiveness, education, and multilingualism do have some impact on web-based doctor reviews, but the numerical effect is small. Notably, bias may play out in many forms. For example, a physician\'s appearance or accent may impact a patient\'s trust, confidence, or satisfaction with their physician, which could in turn influence their take-up of preventative services and lead to either better or worse health outcomes. The study highlights the need for further research in how physician characteristics influence patient ratings of care.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between physician characteristics and patient satisfaction ratings on Zocdoc.
METHODS: A data set of 1455 primary care doctor profiles across 30 cities was scraped from Zocdoc. The profiles contained information on the physician\'s gender, education, and languages spoken in their office. Age, facial attractiveness, and race were imputed from profile pictures using commercial facial analysis software. Each doctor profile listed an average overall satisfaction rating, bedside manner rating, and wait time rating from verified patients. Descriptive statistics, the Wilcoxon rank sum test, and multivariate logistic regression were used to analyze the data.
RESULTS: The average overall rating on Zocdoc was highly positive, with older age, lower facial attractiveness, foreign degrees, allopathic degrees, and speaking more languages negatively associated with the average rating. However, the effect sizes of these factors were relatively small. For example, graduates of Latin American medical schools had a mean overall rating of 4.63 compared to a 4.77 rating for US graduates (P<.001), a difference roughly equivalent to a 2.8% decrease in appointments. On multivariate analysis, being Asian and having a doctor of osteopathic medicine degree were positively associated with higher overall ratings, while attending a South Asian medical school and speaking more European and Middle Eastern languages in the office were negatively associated with higher overall ratings.
CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the findings suggest that age, facial attractiveness, education, and multilingualism do have some impact on web-based doctor reviews, but the numerical effect is small. Notably, bias may play out in many forms. For example, a physician\'s appearance or accent may impact a patient\'s trust, confidence, or satisfaction with their physician, which could in turn influence their take-up of preventative services and lead to either better or worse health outcomes. The study highlights the need for further research in how physician characteristics influence patient ratings of care.
摘要：
背景：医生评论网站作为希望选择初级保健提供者的患者的信息来源越来越受欢迎。Zocdoc是一个这样的平台，使患者不仅可以评估和审查他们与医生的经验，还可以直接安排约会。这项研究探讨了包括性别在内的几种医生特征，年龄,种族,在医生办公室里说的语言，教育,和面部吸引力影响初级保健医生对Zocdoc的平均数字评分。
目的：本研究的目的是调查医生特征与Zocdoc患者满意度评分之间的关联。
方法：从Zocdoc收集了30个城市的1455名初级保健医生的数据集。档案包含医生性别的信息，教育,和他们办公室里说的语言。年龄,面部吸引力，使用商业面部分析软件从个人资料图片中估算种族。每位医生都列出了平均总体满意度，床边方式等级,和等待时间评级从验证的患者。描述性统计，Wilcoxon秩和检验,和多因素logistic回归分析。
结果：Zocdoc的平均总体评分是高度积极的，随着年龄的增长，较低的面部吸引力，外国学位,对抗程度,说更多的语言与平均评分呈负相关。然而,这些因素的影响大小相对较小。例如,拉丁美洲医学院毕业生的平均总体评分为4.63，而美国毕业生的平均评分为4.77（P<.001），差异大致相当于约会减少2.8％。在多变量分析中，作为亚洲人和拥有骨病医学学位的医生与较高的总体评分呈正相关，在南亚医学院上学和在办公室说更多的欧洲和中东语言时，与较高的总体评分呈负相关。
结论：总体而言，研究结果表明，年龄，面部吸引力，教育,多语种确实对基于网络的医生评论有一些影响，但是数值效应很小。值得注意的是,偏见可能以多种形式出现。例如,医生的外表或口音可能会影响患者的信任，信心,或者对他们的医生满意，这反过来可能会影响他们对预防性服务的接受，并导致更好或更坏的健康结果。该研究强调需要进一步研究医师特征如何影响患者的护理评级。
目的：本研究的目的是调查医生特征与Zocdoc患者满意度评分之间的关联。
方法：从Zocdoc收集了30个城市的1455名初级保健医生的数据集。档案包含医生性别的信息，教育,和他们办公室里说的语言。年龄,面部吸引力，使用商业面部分析软件从个人资料图片中估算种族。每位医生都列出了平均总体满意度，床边方式等级,和等待时间评级从验证的患者。描述性统计，Wilcoxon秩和检验,和多因素logistic回归分析。
结果：Zocdoc的平均总体评分是高度积极的，随着年龄的增长，较低的面部吸引力，外国学位,对抗程度,说更多的语言与平均评分呈负相关。然而,这些因素的影响大小相对较小。例如,拉丁美洲医学院毕业生的平均总体评分为4.63，而美国毕业生的平均评分为4.77（P<.001），差异大致相当于约会减少2.8％。在多变量分析中，作为亚洲人和拥有骨病医学学位的医生与较高的总体评分呈正相关，在南亚医学院上学和在办公室说更多的欧洲和中东语言时，与较高的总体评分呈负相关。
结论：总体而言，研究结果表明，年龄，面部吸引力，教育,多语种确实对基于网络的医生评论有一些影响，但是数值效应很小。值得注意的是,偏见可能以多种形式出现。例如,医生的外表或口音可能会影响患者的信任，信心,或者对他们的医生满意，这反过来可能会影响他们对预防性服务的接受，并导致更好或更坏的健康结果。该研究强调需要进一步研究医师特征如何影响患者的护理评级。
