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Background: Although obtaining sexual history from patients is essential, the attitudes of physicians can become a barrier to sexual health care. Iranian-American physicians may face particular challenges because talking about sexuality is considered a taboo within their culture. Our study examined these physicians' attitudes when taking a sexual history from their patients.Methods: In 2013, a self-administrated questionnaire was sent to 1550 Iranian-American physicians in California, USA. Using factor analysis, the principal components approach with a Varimax rotation was used on a set of 12-item questions (five-point Likert scales) to detect latent factors that explain attitudes affecting sexual history taking. Scores are generated to determine physicians' attitudes towards sexual history taking.Results: In total, 354 questionnaires were returned (23% response rate). Three factors were identified as internally consistent (Cronbach's α=0.84 - 0.94): (1) attitude towards various patients; (2) female sexuality; and (3) age and marriage. Significant association were found between these three factors and some variables such as physicians' gender, country of medical graduation, religion, birthplace and age.Conclusions: Results revealed that cultural attitudes are important factors affecting physicians' involvement in sexual history taking. Additional studies from this population and other subpopulations of US physicians are needed. New strategies that reflect on physicians' attitude on sexual healthcare delivery is needed. If confirmed in other studies, our findings could have implications for the training of medical graduates globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlabelled: Background Female sexual dysfunction is highly prevalent and it has a major effect on quality of life. However, responding to this healthcare need is challenging for physicians due to limited time, insecurities about how and what to ask, and lack of knowledge of therapy options. In Germany, additional barriers such as poor training during residency, lack of sexual therapists, and limited options for continuing education result in an under-diagnosis and under-treatment of female sexual dysfunction. This study aims to better understand the perspectives of German obstetricians and gynaecologists (OB/GYNs) in terms of diagnosing and treating patients with female sexual dysfunction.Methods: In November 2014 all Bavarian-based OB/GYNs working in outpatient care were sent a 23-item questionnaire by mail. A reminder was sent 4 weeks later. A non-response survey was also performed.Results: Out of 1291 distributed questionnaires, 235 were completed and returned (18%). The greatest challenges to OB/GYNs caring for women with sexual dysfunction were: (1) long waiting times for referrals; (2) too little time with patients; and (3) insufficient training during residency. Only one out of five OB/GYNs brought up the topic of sexual function routinely; initiating a conversation about sexual function was significantly associated with perceived communication skills (P=0.001) and perceived medical competence (P=0.008).Conclusions: There are several barriers to diagnosing and treating female sexual dysfunction in a German outpatient setting. Further surveys of patients, psychologists, therapists and health insurance providers are needed to provide more perspectives on this particular health issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The premature ejaculation diagnostic tool (PEDT) is a brief, multidimensional validated instrument devised for diagnosing premature ejaculation (PE). However, there is insufficient evidence regarding its ability to differentiate subgroups of PE. We assessed the ability of the PEDT to differentiate four subgroups of PE (lifelong, acquired, variable and subjective PE). Methods: An internet-based survey was conducted with a populationbased sample of males aged 20-59 years. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire requesting detailed medical and sexual histories. The questionnaire including questions from the PEDT and from the Medical Outcome Study Shortform 36-Item Health Survey (SF-36). Using the PEDT, PE was defined as a cutoff score of ⩾11. Results: In this study, 443 subjects (mean age 39.3±10.1 years) were included. PEDT-PE prevalence was 14.6%. The proportions of PE subgroups and their mean PEDT scores were: lifelong PE, 2.9% and 15.5; acquired PE, 7.0% and 11.2; variable PE, 7.4% and 10.4; subjective PE, 3.2% and 9.0. PEDT scores were significantly higher in the lifelong PE group than in other the subgroups of PE (P < 0.001). The subjective PE group had the lowest PEDT score, and their physical and mental component scores for the SF-36 were similar to those of non-PE subjects. Conclusions: This population-based cross-sectional survey has demonstrated that the PEDT is not appropriate for research into four subgroups of PE when used in an general male population study, unless the PEDT is combined with an additional questionnaire with specific questions on the four PE subgroups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]