(P487) Past sex education and having a usual doctor makes it easier for young Australians to discuss sexual health with a doctor: Findings from an online survey

Background

Young people are disproportionately burdened by sexually transmissible infections (STIs), but experience barriers to discussing their sexual health. Most sexual health care, including testing for STIs, is provided by general practitioners (GPs) in Australia. This research examines young Australians’ receptiveness to discussing sexual health with a GP.



Methods

We conducted an anonymous online survey (open 2^nd May – 21^st June 2022) exploring young peoples’ sexual health perspectives and experiences of accessing sexual health care. People aged 16-29 years and living in Australia were eligible to participate. The survey asked about several key characteristics, including past sex education and whether participants had a usual GP. We asked whether participants agreed with five statements about discussing their sexual health with a GP (‘GP statements’, see Figure 1). Multivariate logistic regression explored factors associated with responses to statements.



Results

Among 1915 participants, 69.3% were cisgender women, with a median age of 20 years (IQR: 17-24), about half were heterosexual (48.5%), 86.4% had sex education and 66.9% had a usual GP. Responses to GP statements varied by age (p< 0.001) with the youngest the most hesitant about discussing sexual health.(Figure 1) After adjusting for age, participants with a school-based sex education were less hesitant about discussing sexual health; they were less likely to be embarrassed (AOR 0.63, 95%CI 0.43-0.91), lie about sexual history (AOR 0.60, 95%CI 0.43-0.85), worry about confidentiality (AOR 0.52, 95%CI 0.37-0.72), and fear examination (AOR 0.68, 95%CI 0.51-0.91) and more likely to be open to discussing sexual health in a non-sexual health consultation (AOR 1.48, 95%CI 1.11-1.96). People with a usual GP were less likely to worry about confidentiality (AOR 0.66, 95%CI 0.51-0.85) and fear an exam (AOR 0.80, 95%CI 0.64-0.99) and more likely to be open to discussing sexual health issues in a non-sexual health consultation (AOR 1.77, 95%CI 1.44-2.17).



Conclusions

Young Australians are mostly open to discussing their sexual health and history with a GP. Having received a school-based sex education and having an existing relationship with a GP were factors associated with increased receptiveness to discussing sexual health, highlighting the importance of GPs for sexual health care.