Patient preferences for chaperone use during transvaginal sonography

Purpose: To determine patient preferences for use of a chaperone during transvaginal sonography. Materials and methods: Informed consent was waived for this IRB-exempt, HIPAA-compliant, retrospective review of prospectively acquired quality improvement survey data. Willing unique consecutive adult patients (n = 155) scheduled to undergo a transvaginal pelvic ultrasound between March 1, 2015 and August 15, 2015 completed a survey before and after the ultrasound examination assessing their opinions regarding the need for a chaperone. Surveys were collected from three outpatient centers (n = 35/center) and an inpatient center (n = 50) in the same health system. Respondent opinions were compared with Chi-Square test or Fisher's Exact test. Results: Most respondents (78% [121/155]) had previously undergone a transvaginal pelvic ultrasound. Respondents were significantly more likely to prefer a chaperone if their sonographer was male than if their sonographer was female (pre-ultrasound: 46% [69/155] vs. 12% [19/155], p < 0.0001; post-ultrasound: 43% [66/155] vs. 6% [10/155], p < 0.0001). The fraction of respondents who said they would be somewhat or substantially reassured by a chaperone if their sonographer was female was similar to the fraction of respondents who said they would be somewhat or substantially embarrassed by presence of a female chaperone (pre-ultrasound: 12% [19/155] vs. 6% [9/155], p = 0.07; post-ultrasound: 6% [10/155] vs. 7% [11/155], p = 0.82; respectively). Conclusion: Approximately half of adult women scheduled to undergo transvaginal pelvic sonography prefer that a chaperone be present if their sonographer is male, but in general do not feel it is necessary if their sonographer is female. These opinions do not change after performance of a transvaginal pelvic ultrasound.