Most Young Men Think You Have To Be Naked in Front of the GP

Background: In Australia, 15- to 29-year-olds account for 75% of all sexually transmissible infection (STI) diagnoses. STI rates among young men are rising, with most diagnosed in general practice. Young men less frequently attend general practice than young women, and rarely present with sexual health issues, making it difficult for general practitioners (GPs) to offer opportunistic STI education and screening. Little is known of the barriers preventing male university students accessing general practice for sexual health care, or what would facilitate this. 

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with young men aged 18-24 years attending university between 2012 and 2014. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed using content and thematic analysis. 

Results: Twenty-eight interviews of 26-50 min duration found self-imposed views of masculinity, privacy and embarrassment as key barriers to accessing GPs for sexual health care. This was compounded by poor STI knowledge and not knowing when or where to go for care. Participants, except if they were international students, acknowledged school as an important source of sexual health education. The need for sexual health education at university was identified. While the Internet was a popular source, there were mixed views on the benefits of social media and text messaging for sexual health promotion. 

Conclusions: Current expectations of young male university students to seek sexual health care or acquire sexual health information from medical care may be misplaced. Universities have an excellent opportunity to provide young men with appropriate sexual health information and could offer novel strategies to help young men look after their sexual health.

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By:   Cameron Ewert A, Archibald Collyer A and Meredith Temple-Smith A B 

^A Department of General Practice, The University of Melbourne, 200 Berkeley Street, Carlton, Vic. 3053, Australia. 
^B Corresponding author. Email: m.temple-smith@unimelb.edu.au 

 

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A Cross Sectional Survey of the Barriers for Implementing Rapid HIV Testing among French General Practitioners

In France, almost 30,000 people are unaware of their HIV positive status. Innovative screening strategies are essential to reach this population. The aim of this study was to describe the acceptability of rapid HIV testing (RHT) among French general practitioners (GPs) working in the south of France and barriers for implementing this strategy. We analysed an anonymous questionnaire sent by mail to GPs about demographic data, routine practice, knowledge of RHT and barriers to its use. 

Between 1 April and 30 September 2013, out of the 165 GPs contacted, 78 sent back the questionnaires. The average GPs' age was 52 years, 49 were men. Fifty-one GPs reported that their registered patients included at least one HIV-infected person and 70 GPs reported taking care of high-risk people. Sixty-three percent of GPs reported being interested in using RHT in their daily practice. 

The main reasons reported by uninterested GPs were: greater confidence in standard HIV testing, difficulties including RHT during the routine consultation, difficulties to screen other sexually transmitted diseases simultaneously, and difficulties to deliver a positive result. French National Authorities for Health propose to screen the population at least once in their lifetime and high-risk people at least once a year. In order to achieve this aim, RHT should fit into the GPs' arsenal for HIV testing. 

We showed a high acceptability of RHT by GPs. If specific and adapted training is developed, and if solutions to barriers reported by GPs are found, RHT could be implemented in their routine activity.

Via: http://goo.gl/84y9qv  Purchase full article at: http://goo.gl/YCUVuI

By: Fraisse T1, Fourcade C2, Brazes-Sanz J1, Koumar Y2, Lavigne JP3, Sotto A4, Laureillard D2.

• 1Department of Geriatric Medicine, General Hospital, Alès, France.
• 2Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, University Hospital, Nîmes, France.
• 3Department of Microbiology, University Hospital, Nîmes, France.
• 4Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, University Hospital, Nîmes, France 

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