Grant Kathryn, Ragsdale Kathleen
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of North Florida, 1 UNF Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA.
Cult Health Sex. 2008 Jun;10(5):495-511. doi: 10.1080/13691050801948094.
Primary care physicians may mistakenly conclude that sexual issues are unimportant to divorced or widowed mature women, based on age and gender biases. Although research suggests that many single mature women are sexually active, physicians are often reluctant to discuss sexual matters with them. Structured and open-ended interviews explored perceptions regarding mature women's sexuality and HIV-related risk for patient-physician communication among 44 'recently single' mature women aged 45-68 and 31 primary care physicians. Age and ethnic group comparisons with the mature women suggest that younger and African-American women reported higher HIV and STI risk perception than older and White women. Many mature women (64%) believed that they were at-risk for HIV and STIs, whereas physicians considered younger patients most at-risk and that risk declined with patients' advancing age and with female status. Mature women and physicians had different expectations regarding initiation of clinical sexual health discussions, with 44% of the mature women placing the onus of responsibility on the patient, whereas 74% of physicians believed it was the role of both doctors and patients to bring up these topics. The findings are instructive to primary care physicians and healthcare policy makers, indicating that sexual health issues are relevant to mature women's continued health and well-being.
基于年龄和性别偏见，初级保健医生可能会错误地认为性问题对离婚或丧偶的成熟女性不重要。尽管研究表明许多单身成熟女性仍有性生活，但医生往往不愿与她们讨论性问题。通过结构化和开放式访谈，对44名年龄在45至68岁之间的“近期单身”成熟女性和31名初级保健医生进行了关于成熟女性性行为及患者与医生沟通中与艾滋病毒相关风险的认知调查。与成熟女性的年龄和种族群体比较表明，年轻女性和非裔美国女性报告的艾滋病毒和性传播感染风险认知高于年长女性和白人女性。许多成熟女性（64%）认为自己有感染艾滋病毒和性传播感染的风险，而医生则认为年轻患者风险最高，且风险会随着患者年龄增长和女性身份而降低。成熟女性和医生对开始临床性健康讨论有不同期望，44%的成熟女性将责任归咎于患者，而74%的医生认为提出这些话题是医生和患者双方的责任。这些发现对初级保健医生和医疗政策制定者具有指导意义，表明性健康问题与成熟女性的持续健康和幸福相关。
