IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i17p11029-d905885.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Competence and Attitude of Family Physicians towards Sexuality Regarding Their Sexual Orientation, Age, or Having a Partner—Survey Study and Validation

Author

Listed:
  • Javier Ramírez-Santos

    (Almería Health District, Andalusian Health Service, 04008 Almería, Spain)

  • Gracia Castro-Luna

    (Nursing, Physiotherapy, and Medicine Department, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain)

  • Manuel Lucas-Matheu

    (Nursing, Physiotherapy, and Medicine Department, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain)

  • Tesifón Parrón-Carreño

    (Nursing, Physiotherapy, and Medicine Department, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain)

  • Bruno José Nievas-Soriano

    (Nursing, Physiotherapy, and Medicine Department, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain)

Abstract

Background: The main objective of this study was to assess different aspects of family physicians (sex, age, sexual orientation, or having a partner) regarding their competencies, attitudes, and procedures towards their patients’ sexuality. We also sought to develop a valid questionnaire to perform this task. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed among family and community medicine physicians in southeast Spain. Results: A total of 259 family physicians participated. Overall, 69.9% were women, 80.7% were heterosexual, 80.7% had a partner, and 50.6% had not received specific sexology training. Homosexual physicians showed a slightly more positive attitude toward sexuality. Training in sexuality established differences in competencies and procedures, but no differences were found in the attitude regarding whether the physicians had a partner or their training. While younger ages were correlated with a more positive attitude, the global score was positively correlated with the age of the professionals. Conclusions: Competences, attitudes, and knowledge of procedures do not depend on whether the professional has a partner, but there may be slight differences regarding attitude when considering the sexual orientation of the physicians. The attitude toward sexuality may not depend on previous training. Albeit younger family physicians have a more positive attitude, all providers become more involved with sexuality as they gain professional experience.

Suggested Citation

  • Javier Ramírez-Santos & Gracia Castro-Luna & Manuel Lucas-Matheu & Tesifón Parrón-Carreño & Bruno José Nievas-Soriano, 2022. "Competence and Attitude of Family Physicians towards Sexuality Regarding Their Sexual Orientation, Age, or Having a Partner—Survey Study and Validation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-14, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:17:p:11029-:d:905885
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/17/11029/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/17/11029/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sabin, J.A. & Riskind, R.G. & Nosek, B.A., 2015. "Health care providers' implicit and explicit attitudes toward lesbian women and gay men," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105(9), pages 1831-1841.
    2. Reginald Fennell & Blair Grant, 2019. "Discussing sexuality in health care: A systematic review," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(17-18), pages 3065-3076, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yoo Mi Jeong & Cindy B Veldhuis & Frances Aranda & Tonda L Hughes, 2016. "Racial/ethnic differences in unmet needs for mental health and substance use treatment in a community‐based sample of sexual minority women," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(23-24), pages 3557-3569, December.
    2. Mónica Rojas-Chaves & Manuel Lucas-Matheu & Gracia Castro-Luna & Tesifón Parrón-Carreño & Bruno José Nievas-Soriano, 2022. "Validation of a Scale on Society’s Attitudes towards the Sexuality of Women with Intellectual Disabilities—Survey Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-10, October.
    3. Ursula Meidert & Godela Dönnges & Thomas Bucher & Frank Wieber & Andreas Gerber-Grote, 2023. "Unconscious Bias among Health Professionals: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(16), pages 1-28, August.
    4. M. V. Lee Badgett & Christopher S. Carpenter & Maxine J. Lee & Dario Sansone, 2024. "A Review of the Economics of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 62(3), pages 948-994, September.
    5. Ning Hsieh & Deirdre Shires & Hui Liu & Sam Safford & Kryssia J. Campos, 2024. "Unequal Access to Primary Care Providers at the Intersection of Race/Ethnicity, Sexual Orientation, and Gender," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 43(4), pages 1-12, August.
    6. Wittlin, Natalie M. & Dovidio, John F. & Burke, Sara E. & Przedworski, Julia M. & Herrin, Jeph & Dyrbye, Liselotte & Onyeador, Ivuoma N. & Phelan, Sean M. & van Ryn, Michelle, 2019. "Contact and role modeling predict bias against lesbian and gay individuals among early-career physicians: A longitudinal study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 238(C), pages 1-1.
    7. Sonia García-Duarte & Bruno José Nievas-Soriano & Natalia Fischer-Suárez & Gracia Castro-Luna & Tesifón Parrón-Carreño & Gabriel Aguilera-Manrique, 2023. "Quality of Sexuality during Pregnancy, We Must Do Something—Survey Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-11, January.
    8. Sharona Tzur‐Peled & Orly Sarid & Talma Kushnir, 2019. "Nurses' perceptions of their relationships and communication with lesbian women seeking perinatal care," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(17-18), pages 3271-3278, September.
    9. Tara McKay & Ellesse-Roselee Akré & Jeffrey Henne & Nitya Kari & Adam Conway & Isabel Gothelf, 2022. "LGBTQ+ Affirming Care May Increase Awareness and Understanding of Undetectable = Untransmittable among Midlife and Older Gay and Bisexual Men in the US South," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-16, August.
    10. Eva Elton & Gilbert Gonzales, 2022. "Health Insurance Coverage and Access to Care by Sexual Orientation and Marital/Cohabitation Status: New Evidence from the 2015–2018 National Health Interview Survey," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(2), pages 479-493, April.
    11. Megan E. Sutter & Meghan L. Bowman‐Curci & Luisa F. Duarte Arevalo & Steven K. Sutton & Gwendolyn P. Quinn & Matthew B. Schabath, 2020. "A survey of oncology advanced practice providers’ knowledge and attitudes towards sexual and gender minorities with cancer," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(15-16), pages 2953-2966, August.
    12. Miriam Bajo & Maria Stavraki & Amalio Blanco & Darío Díaz, 2021. "Direct versus Indirect Well-Being Measures: Using Partially Structured Stimuli to Evaluate Well-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(6), pages 2575-2598, August.
    13. Caroline Dorsen & Nancy Van Devanter, 2016. "Open arms, conflicted hearts: nurse‐practitioner's attitudes towards working with lesbian, gay and bisexual patients," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(23-24), pages 3716-3727, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:17:p:11029-:d:905885. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.