Patients with chronic diseases: Is sexual health brought up by general practitioners during appointments? A web-based study

Abstract

Many chronic diseases and their medications may induce sexual problems. This study aimed to evaluate whether general practitioners (GPs) raise sexual health issues during appointments with patients who have chronic diseases. Study design: A web-based questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of 1,000 GPs in Finland. Main outcome measures:The study aim was to determine GPs' self-reported inquiry into sexual problems with patients who have chronic diseases and GPs' awareness of medications inducing sexual problems. Results: Only 16.2% of the GPs inquired about sexual health issues, typically during appointments dealing with reproductive organs. A majority (66.9%) considered sexual problems to be side-effects of medications, but only 17.9% followed up about them. Compared to male GPs, female GPs were more likely to inquire about gynecologic patients' sexual issues (OR 1.77, 95% CI 1.05-2.99), but less likely to ask about them with urologic (OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.35-0.91) and neurologic patients (OR 0.35, 95% CI 0.17-0.72). The GPs aged 40-49 and 50-65 were more likely than those aged 27-39 to inquire about sexual health issues among patients with cardiovascular (OR 2.87, OR 2.89,) and neurologic (OR 4.63, OR 5.68, diseases. Conclusions: GPs seldom inquire about sexual problems with patients who have chronic diseases or after prescribing medications for these conditions, which may lead to underdiagnosis and undertreatment of sexual problems.

The knowledge of and educational interest in sexual medicine among Finnish medical and midwifery students: A web-based study

“…An important finding in our study was the self-reported insufficiency in knowledge regarding the treatment of sexual problems due to chronic diseases. In our previous SexMEdu sub-study 25 of 402 general practitioners, most (67%) participants considered sexual problems to be common side effects of medications prescribed for other pathologies. However, they seldom asked about possible side effects related to sexual health during follow-up consultations 25 .…”

“…In our previous SexMEdu sub-study 25 of 402 general practitioners, most (67%) participants considered sexual problems to be common side effects of medications prescribed for other pathologies. However, they seldom asked about possible side effects related to sexual health during follow-up consultations 25 . In a Dutch study 33 of 204 questionnaires completed by general practitioners, 68% of participants never discussed sexual dysfunction with their chronically ill patients during the first consultation, but 54% discussed the issue during a follow-up visit.…”

“…Permissions to use the questionnaires were obtained from the researchers. We also used the Portuguese questionnaire in our earlier SexMEdu sub-studies of general practitioners 24 , 25 , and the Portuguese and German questionnaires were used in a sub-study of medical and midwifery students 26 . We piloted the questionnaire with 27 medical students and used their feedback to amend the content.…”

Aging Beautifully with Healthy Sexual Life

“…Meanwhile, about 30% of patients diagnosed with cardiovascular disease reported that their medication was the source of their sexual difficulty. A study conducted on post-stroke patients also revealed that most patients have a decreased interest in sex [21].…”