Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow questionnaire
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (11)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Verhoeven, V
Right arrow Articles by Avonts, D
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Verhoeven, V
Right arrow Articles by Avonts, D
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Family Practice Vol. 20, No. 1, 11-15
© Oxford University Press 2003

Clinical Research

Discussing STIs: doctors are from Mars, patients from Venus

V Verhoeven, K Bovijn, A Helder, L Peremans, I Hermann, P Van Royen, J Denekens and D Avonts

Academic Centre for General Practice, University of Antwerp, Belgium.

Correspondence to V. Verhoeven; E-mail: verhoeven{at}uia.ua.ac.be

Background. Primary care plays an important role in promoting sexual health, but in this setting counselling regarding sexually trnsmitted infections (STIs) is rarely performed and often inadequate.

Objective. Our aim was to identify and quantify the barriers physicians encounter in discussing STIs with their patients.

Methods. A postal questionnaire-based survey was carried out in a random sample of 200 primary care physicians in Antwerp, Belgium.

Results. The response rate was 68%. Among the 122 respondents, only 44.3% provide some form of counselling (asking about sexual history, informing about safe sex or informing about STIs) regularly, at least once a week. Major barriers are language and comprehension problems (for 74.2% of respondents), ethnic differences (68.4%), insufficient training (69.4%), lack of time (60.8%), presence of the patient’s partner (89.2%) or mother (94.2%), first contact with a patient (60.8%), fear of embarrassing the patient (30.6%) and a patient without genital complaints (71.4%). About half of the GPs fail to counsel an asymptomatic patient with obvious STI risk, and as many give no safe sex advice in a first contraception consultation.

Conclusions. Physicians have many and various barriers to discussing STIs with their patients. Features of contemporary STI counselling and solutions to its problems are discussed. Education of health care providers should be given priority.

Keywords. Counselling, preventive medicine, sexual health, sexual history, sexually transmitted infections.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Sex. Transm. Infect.Home page
A T Bodley-Tickell, B Olowokure, S Bhaduri, D J White, D Ward, J D C Ross, G Smith, H V Duggal, P Goold, and on behalf of the West Midlands STI Surveillance Pr
Trends in sexually transmitted infections (other than HIV) in older people: analysis of data from an enhanced surveillance system
Sex. Transm. Inf., August 1, 2008; 84(4): 312 - 317.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Sex. Transm. Infect.Home page
K McCaffery, J Waller, J Nazroo, and J Wardle
Social and psychological impact of HPV testing in cervical screening: a qualitative study.
Sex. Transm. Inf., April 1, 2006; 82(2): 169 - 174.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.