The Italian STD 'Hot-Line'. Making people aware.
Sex Transm Dis
; 30(9): 707-12, 2003 Sep.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-12972794
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
To increase the accessibility of qualified and anonymous information on sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in Italy, a national telephone hotline was initiated in February 1997. GOAL The goal was to determine the profile of callers to the national STD hotline, assess their concerns, identify their sources for the hotline telephone number, and to compare callers' disease interests with diagnoses made at STD clinics. STUDYDESIGN:
The survey analyzed 3577 calls received from February 1997 to December 1999. Hotline operators addressed callers' questions, asked 6 short-answer questions, and recorded the data collected.RESULTS:
The survey showed callers' sex distribution (49.8% women, 50.2% men), average age (women's mean+/-standard deviation [SD], 34.3 +/- 11.8 y; men's mean +/- SD, 36.2 +/- 12.2 y), level of education (66.4% had a secondary school degree), residence (47.9% northern part of Italy), risk category (44% reported being definitely infected by a STD), specific disease interest (30% were concerned about HIV), and source of hotline telephone number (67.3% learned the hotline telephone number from magazines or newspapers). Hotline callers' specific disease interests were compared with diagnoses made at STD clinics; the top 4 disease concerns of hotline callers were HIV, genital herpes, human papillomavirus/genital warts, and mycosis, whereas the top 4 diagnoses made at STD clinics were genital warts, nonspecific vaginitis, nonspecific urethritis, and genital herpes.CONCLUSION:
The hotline seems to be an effective way to deliver information and to allay fears about STDs, although it needs to be promoted more widely, especially in central and southern Italy.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Contexto em Saúde:
10_ODS3_salud_sexual_reprodutiva
/
2_ODS3
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Serviços Preventivos de Saúde
/
Linhas Diretas
/
Infecções Sexualmente Transmissíveis
/
Serviços de Saúde Reprodutiva
/
Instituições de Assistência Ambulatorial
/
Acessibilidade aos Serviços de Saúde
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Aspecto:
Determinantes_sociais_saude
Limite:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
País/Região como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Sex Transm Dis
Ano de publicação:
2003
Tipo de documento:
Article