(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Though young women may be fine with being tested
for sexually transmitted diseases, they don’t like talking about their sex lives
with their doctors.
According to a new survey from the University of Melbourne in Australia, not
only did they not want to give details, sometimes they lied about it.
The findings indicated that women, especially younger ones, would accept
age-based screening for sexually transmitted infections (STI’s) like Chlamydia,
but they don’t want to be targeted or questioned extensively about their sexual
history or partners.
Previous surveys found women did not mind giving such information at family
planning or sexual health clinics, but felt uncomfortable when their general
practitioners took detailed sexual histories before offering the test.
The study’s authors acknowledge that it’s important for young women to
understand that Chlamydia is an STI and their partners should be notified if
they test positive. However, they question whether asking for a detailed sexual
history is necessary and that it might be better if the test was offered as part
of a regular check-up.
Researchers also stress the importance of de-stigmatizing the testing and
normalizing the offering of it so individual women don’t feel singled out.
SOURCE: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, published online May 13, 2008
