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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Knowledge and attitudes of doctors toward the sexuality of older people in Turkey | | Author(s) | Sultan Dogan, Basaran Demir, Engin Eker |
| Journal title | International Psychogeriatrics, vol 20, no 5, October 2008 |
| Pages | pp 1019-1027 |
| Keywords | Doctors ; Attitude ; Sexual activity ; Social surveys ; Turkey. |
| Annotation | A low level of awareness of later life sexuality among Turkish medical doctors is identified in this study. 87 doctors from various specialties, and directly involved in the care of older people, were contacted by post and asked to complete the Turkish version of the Aging Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes Scale (ASKAS). A majority (69%) indicated that they had limited information and knowledge regarding sexual health issues in older people. Although a small percentage (14.5%) reported that they "always" discuss sexuality and sexual problems with older patients, the majority (69%) indicated that they "sometimes" raise questions about sexuality with these patients. A higher percentage (81%) stated that they would be helpful and receptive, should an older patient initiate a discussion about sexual issues. Most participants (77%) thought that the patient's gender was of no importance when taking a sexual history. Overall, the response to ASKAS showed that physicians had limited knowledge, but their attitude was positive toward sexuality in older people. Female doctors had less knowledge than males, and had more negative attitudes toward sexuality in this age group. Total and knowledge sub-scale scores of ASKAS showed that older physicians had more knowledge than young physicians but similar attitudes. A comparison of the attitude scores of psychiatrists, surgeons and non-surgeons showed no significant difference between the three groups. These findings identify a need to improve the education and training of doctors at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, to enable them to provide better sexual health care for older people. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-081127206 A |
| Classmark | QT2: DP: BIU: 3F: 7GB |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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