[Incidence of male urethritis in Tunisia: estimate done with a survey by general practitioners (1985)].

In order to evaluate the yearly incidence of male urethritis in Tunis, a survey was carried out among general practitioners, dermatologists and dispensing chemists. During a 6-week period, the mean incidence was 3.16 +/- 1.2 for general practitioners, 4.65 +/- 2.0 for dermatologists and 3.76 +/- 1.0 for dispensing chemists. Taking into account the number of general practitioners in the Tunis district, the mean yearly incidence would be about 1,200 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, or 300 cases per 10,000 men aged 15 years and more. This rate is intermediate between estimations obtained by two mathematical hypotheses, taking non-responses into account: an optimistic hypothesis with an estimated incidence of about 1,700 cases, and a pessimistic hypothesis of about 800 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, a figure which agrees with an estimate based on the sale of specific drugs used for gonorrhoea. This study emphasizes the fact that more than two-thirds of the patients are treated by private dispensing chemists, and only 7% of the cases are notified to the primary health care centres.