Degree

BS (Social Sciences & Liberal Arts)

Faculty / School

School of Economics and Social Sciences (SESS)

Department

Department of Social Sciences & Liberal Arts

Date of Award

Spring 2024

Date of Submission

2024-06-26

Advisor

Waliyah Ahmed Mughis, Visiting Faculty, Department of Social Sciences and Liberal Arts

Committee

Dr. Ayesha Zia, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences and Liberal Arts

Project Type

SSLA Culminating Experience

Access Type

Restricted Access

Keywords

Medical Gaslighting, Perceived Gender Discrimination, Reproductive Health, Negative Effects, Distrust/Dissatisfaction

Abstract

Background: The healthcare system, much like any institution, has been immensely shaped by the varying social and cultural factors including sex, socio-economic status, race, sexuality, etc. The phenomenon of medical gaslighting is quite relevant in our contemporary context with regards to women using various social media platforms to consistently advocate for improved healthcare systems universally. Medical gaslighting refers to healthcare experiences of dismissal, invalidation, misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis, amongst other indicators. Consequently, there is little existing literature regarding healthcare discrimination towards female patients as it is mostly focused on the lack of tertiary healthcare facilities in the Global South.

Objectives: This study investigates the prevalence of perceived gender discrimination, or “Medical Gaslighting”, and its impact on female patients with reproductive health concerns residing in the urban areas of Pakistan.

Method: This is a descriptive, cross-sectional mixed-methods study utilizing a quantitative online survey (n=104) and qualitative focus group discussions (n=8). Participants were recruited through convenience sampling, and included women of reproductive age between 19 years to 49 years, receiving medical attention for gynecological, obstetric, and fertility-related concerns within Pakistan.

Results: The quantitative findings denoted that there is a significant relationship between medical gaslighting and patient satisfaction and trust in physicians (p<0.05). Medical gaslighting is prevalent in females with 51.92% reported to have experienced at least four out of eight main indicators, with 81.73% experiencing at least one indicator. The FGDs were manually analyzed using a combination of deductive and inductive thematic analysis. The qualitative findings reported that female patients experience mistrust, fear, guilt or shame, amongst other negative effects after experiencing indicators of medical gaslighting.

Conclusion: The participants were from urban areas of Pakistan with diverse socio-economic status, educational background, and ethnicities. They experienced negative effects of medical gaslighting such as fear, guilt, mistrust, anxiety, avoidance, etc., which influenced their future decisions regarding accessing reproductive healthcare services in Pakistan.

Pages

87

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