Medical College of Wisconsin, 9200 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI, 53226, USA.
Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA.
J Gen Intern Med. 2019 Nov;34(11):2505-2511. doi: 10.1007/s11606-019-05300-3. Epub 2019 Aug 26.
Limited patient-provider communication about sexual health is a crucial barrier to patients receiving treatment for sexual problems, and little is known about how patient sexual orientation is associated with patient-provider communication about sexual problems.
To describe the prevalence of patient-provider communication about sexual problems and the associations between communication and (1) persistent sexual problems and (2) whether those who identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual had disclosed their sexual orientation to their clinicians.
Cross-sectional, online survey PARTICIPANTS: 4325 English-speaking US adults from KnowledgePanel®, a probability-based sample of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population.
Sexual orientation, disclosure of sexual orientation (being "out") to a health care provider, communication with health care providers regarding sexual problems or concerns, and persistent sexual problems or concerns.
In the past year, 8-15% of US adults discussed a sexual problem or concern with a health care provider. Between 23 and 42% of US adults reported persistent sexual problem(s) in the past year, and of those, 18% of gay/lesbian women, 20% of heterosexual women, 22% of bisexual women, 30% of gay men, 31% of heterosexual men, and 37% of bisexual men had discussed a sexual concern with a clinician. Eighty percent of gay/lesbian women and 70% of gay men had disclosed their sexual orientation to their regular health care provider, versus only 24% of bisexual men and women. Among those who were "out," 30% had ever talked to a clinician about a sexual problem compared with 17% of those who were not "out." A smaller proportion of lesbian women had ever received care or treatment for a sexual problem, 6% compared with 14-23% in the other groups.
There are significant unmet needs among US adults with regard to patient-provider communication about sexual problems or concerns. Improving patient-provider communication about sexual health is critical.
医患之间关于性健康的沟通有限，这是患者接受性问题治疗的一个关键障碍，但人们对患者的性取向如何与医患之间关于性问题的沟通相关知之甚少。
描述患者与医生就性问题进行沟通的普遍性，并探讨这种沟通与以下两者之间的关联：（1）持续存在的性问题，以及（2）那些自认为是同性恋、双性恋或无性恋者是否向其临床医生透露了自己的性取向。
横断面、在线调查。
来自 KnowledgePanel®的 4325 名美国成年英语使用者，这是一个基于概率的平民非机构化人群样本。
性取向、向医疗保健提供者透露性取向（“出柜”）、与医疗保健提供者就性问题或关注点进行沟通、以及持续存在的性问题或关注点。
在过去的一年中，8-15%的美国成年人与医疗保健提供者讨论过性问题或关注点。在过去一年中，有 23-42%的美国成年人报告存在持续的性问题，其中 18%的女同性恋者、20%的异性恋女性、22%的双性恋女性、30%的男同性恋者、31%的异性恋男性和 37%的双性恋男性曾与临床医生讨论过性问题。80%的女同性恋者和 70%的男同性恋者向其常规医疗保健提供者透露了他们的性取向，而只有 24%的双性恋男女这样做。在那些“出柜”的人中，有 30%的人曾与临床医生谈论过性问题，而在那些没有“出柜”的人中，这一比例为 17%。与其他群体相比，更少的女同性恋者曾接受过性问题的治疗，比例为 6%，而其他群体为 14-23%。
美国成年人在医患之间就性问题或关注点进行沟通方面存在显著的未满足需求。改善医患之间关于性健康的沟通至关重要。
