Mak R, Vincke J, Bolton R; International Conference on AIDS.

Int Conf AIDS. 1991 Jun 16-21; 7: 400 (abstract no. W.D.4049).

Department of Social Medicine, Ghent State University, Belgium

OBJECTIVE: To assess preferences of homosexual men with regards to their physician in relation to risk factors for AIDS. METHODS: Selection of participants was done by key persons, who tried to reach a wide variety of gay men. Computer assisted interviewing was used to minimize interviewer bias, and to standardize questionnaires. Questions about the actual and the preferred sexual preference and the 'gay friendliness' of their physician were introduced. Differences of characteristics relevant to AIDS between those men who would prefer another physician and those who would not, were analyzed using T-Test (p less than 0.05). RESULTS: Of the 379 participating men, 67 (17.7%) have a gay doctor, 286 (75.5%) stated to have a gay-friendly doctor and 26 (6.9%) do not consider their doctor gay-friendly. OF the 312 men who have no gay doctor, 165 (52.9%) would go to one, if they would know one. These men feel less good about their own sexual preference, feel less accepted by heterosexuals, have more sex with unknown partners, and live less in a relationship, in comparison to men who would stay with their actual doctor. Only 17.3% of the respondents considered more than 50% of all physicians as gay-friendly. DISCUSSION and CONCLUSIONS: Although the majority of the respondents believe that most physicians are not gay-friendly, most men did find a gay-friendly doctor. However, more than half of these men would change and go to a gay doctor if they would know one, and factors related to a higher risk to get AIDS were significantly higher in this group. From these data we conclude that efforts should be done to provide gay men with the addresses of openly gay doctors.

Publication Types:

• Meeting Abstracts

Keywords:

• Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
• Belgium
• Communication
• Delivery of Health Care
• Homosexuality
• Homosexuality, Male
• Humans
• Male
• Physician-Patient Relations
• Questionnaires
• Sexual Behavior

Other ID:

• 3404991

UI: 102193492

From Meeting Abstracts