TEENAGERS VIEWS ON THE GENERAL-PRACTICE CONSULTATION AND PROVISION OFCONTRACEPTION

Background. The rate of unwanted pregnancies in adolescents in the Uni ted Kingdom (UK) is one of the highest in Europe and is a major reason for the RCGP's concern at the under-use of general practitioners' (GP s') contraceptive services by young people. Aim. To discover the attit udes of 15- to 16-year-olds to the GP consultation and contraceptive s ervices. Method. Questionnaires were completed as part of an evaluatio n of a novel sex education programme in 30 schools in 1994, and provid ed the data for this study. A total of 4481 teenagers (51.6% male and 48.4% female completed the questionnaires in their classrooms under co nditions of complete confidentiality. Results. The median consulting r ate per year was two for males and three for females. Over 60% of adol escents attended the consultation with a parent. Of the males, 27.5% ' felt that the discussion with their GP could be relayed to their paren ts against their wishes', as did 25.1% of the females. Other difficult ies with GP appointments were identified as embarrassment (63% of fema les and 46% of males), difficulty getting a quick appointment (44% of both males and females), and an unsympathetic GP (32% of females and 2 0.5% of males). Conclusions. Adolescents identify significant factors blocking them from easy access to consultation with their GP. These in cluded lack of trust in confidentiality, lack of staff friendliness, a nd delay in appointment. Consideration of how these blocks can be remo ved will assist in providing improved contraceptive services in primar y care. General practices need to consider the above factors when prov iding contraceptive and other services to their teenage patients.