Sekse en gender in huisarts-patiëntinteracties

My PhD project is part of a larger multidisciplinary research project focusing on sex and gender differences in medical trajectories of patients with common somatic symptoms. Previous studies have found differences between men and women in all stages of the medical trajectory, from presenting common somatic symptoms to diagnosis and treatment decisions. The first stage in the medical trajectory is the general practice, and it is crucial to study to what extent there are differences between men and women at this stage, specifically in the communication. To what extent do biological sex and psychosocial gender affect natural occurrences of language in GP-patient interactions, and to what extent does language affect key psychological mechanisms of patient outcomes? By means of a quantitative content analysis (coding key linguistic elements) and a qualitative conversation analysis, sex and gender differences in language use of both male and female GPs patients will be studied.