Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, Maryland.
Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, Maryland.
Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2022 Aug 1;113(5):928-933. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2022.04.031. Epub 2022 Apr 29.
Although supported by most men and women, paternity leave is heavily underused across industries owing in part to external pressures and inconsistent availability. The goal of this study was to assess the use of paternity leave in radiation oncology (RO) practices and identify any associated barriers.
A 36-item survey was distributed via e-mail to 536 male domestic RO attending and resident physicians. Questions assessed paternity leave policies, use, and departmental support. Data were collected using Research Electronic Data Capture from January to February 2021. Descriptive statistics were obtained for analysis, and logistic regression was performed to analyze the association between practice type and presence of policy.
The survey response rate was 20% (n = 108), with 98% of participants completing all applicable questions. Respondents included 63 attending physicians (58%) and 45 resident physicians (42%). The median age of all respondents was 35 years. Among all participants, 51 (47%) stated their practice had a formal paternity leave policy. The median time allowed for leave was 4 weeks (range, 0.5 weeks to unlimited), whereas the median time taken was 2 weeks (range, 0.5-12 weeks). Sixteen men felt pressure to take less leave than what was allowed by their policy, and 46% of men stated that in retrospect, they would have taken more time off for paternity leave.
To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the use of paternity leave in RO practices in the United States. Integrating expanded family leave policies, including specifically allowing for paternity leave and accompanying these policies with cultural changes acknowledging the importance of family leave, would be beneficial to improving quality of life and work-life balance for parents.
尽管得到了大多数男性和女性的支持，但由于外部压力和不一致的可用性，陪产假在各行业的使用率仍然很低。本研究的目的是评估放射肿瘤学（RO）实践中陪产假的使用情况，并确定任何相关的障碍。
通过电子邮件向 536 名男性国内 RO 主治医生和住院医师发送了一份 36 项的调查问卷。问题评估了陪产假政策、使用情况和部门支持。数据使用 Research Electronic Data Capture 从 2021 年 1 月至 2 月收集。进行了描述性统计分析，并进行了逻辑回归分析以分析实践类型与政策存在之间的关联。
调查的回复率为 20%（n=108），所有适用问题的完成率为 98%。受访者包括 63 名主治医生（58%）和 45 名住院医师（42%）。所有受访者的中位年龄为 35 岁。在所有参与者中，有 51 人（47%）表示他们所在的实践有正式的陪产假政策。允许的休假中位数为 4 周（范围为 0.5 周到无限期），而实际休假中位数为 2 周（范围为 0.5 周到 12 周）。16 名男性感到有压力要休少于政策允许的假期，46%的男性表示，事后看来，他们会休更多的陪产假。
据作者所知，这是第一项调查美国 RO 实践中陪产假使用情况的研究。整合扩大的家庭休假政策，包括特别允许陪产假，并通过承认家庭休假重要性的文化变革来支持这些政策，将有利于改善父母的生活质量和工作生活平衡。
