Supplementary Material for: Patient and caregiver perspectives on gender disparity in chronic kidney disease: Questionnaire survey, based on an interview study

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) in stages 3-5 without albuminuria occurs more often in women than in men; however, most patients initiating and receiving kidney replacement therapy (KRT) are men. Sex-determined biological factors and gender-related aspects likely both account for this discrepancy. Patient opinions on gender-related discrepancies in kidney care have not been investigated.
Methods: Building upon the findings of semi-structured interviews previously conducted with CKD patients and their caregivers, two questionnaires were developed to investigate patient behavior and opinions relating to gender and CKD. These questionnaires containing 39 items were distributed to eight outpatient clinics in Austria. Responses were descriptively analyzed and compared between genders, as well as between age groups and CKD stages.
Results: Questionnaires from 783 patients and 98 caregivers were included in the analysis and covered health awareness and self-management of disease, the impact of gender roles and gender equality, and patient autonomy and trust in the health-care system. 56.1% of men patients and 63.1% of women patients found that women were better at looking after their health compared to men (41.1%/34.3% no difference, 2.8%/2.6% men better). 95.4% of men patients, 95.0% of women patients, 100% of men caregivers and 95.5% of women caregivers stated that all patients with kidney disease were treated completely equally, irrespective of gender.
Conclusion: Neither the patients nor the caregivers stated gender-determined treatment decisions in CKD care. Both men and women however agreed that women are better at maintaining their own health and excel in disease self-management.

背景：3~5期无白蛋白尿的慢性肾脏病（Chronic kidney disease, CKD）在女性中的发病率高于男性，但多数启动并接受肾脏替代治疗（kidney replacement therapy, KRT）的患者为男性。性别相关的生物学因素与社会性别层面的特征或均可解释这一差异，但目前尚无针对肾脏护理中性别相关差异的患者看法的研究。
方法：本研究基于此前对慢性肾脏病患者及其照护者开展的半结构化访谈（semi-structured interviews）结果，开发了两份问卷，以探究患者与性别及慢性肾脏病相关的行为与看法。这两份共计39个条目（items）的问卷被发放至奥地利的8家门诊诊所。研究对回收的问卷结果进行描述性分析，并按性别、年龄组及慢性肾脏病分期进行分组比较。
结果：本研究共纳入783例患者及98名照护者的有效问卷，分析内容涵盖健康认知与疾病自我管理、社会性别角色与性别平等的影响，以及患者自主权与对医疗体系的信任度。56.1%的男性患者与63.1%的女性患者认为，女性在健康照护方面优于男性（分别有41.1%/34.3%的受访者认为性别无差异，2.8%/2.6%的受访者认为男性更擅长健康照护）。95.4%的男性患者、95.0%的女性患者、100%的男性照护者及95.5%的女性照护者均表示，所有肾脏疾病患者均可获得无性别差异的均等治疗。
结论：无论是患者还是照护者均未提及慢性肾脏病护理中存在由性别决定的治疗决策。但无论男性还是女性受访者均认同，女性更擅长维持自身健康，并在疾病自我管理方面表现更出色。