A NATIONAL SURVEY OF PHYSICIANS BEHAVIORS REGARDING SEXUAL CONTACT WITH PATIENTS

To determine the prevalence of sexual contact between physicians and p atients, we mailed a survey to a nationwide, randomized sample of 1,60 0 physicians, including internists, family medicine physicians, obstet rician-gynecologists, and ophthalmologists. The response rate was 52% (n=787). Of all respondents, 4.5% reported having dated a patient and 3.4% reported having had sexual (genital-genital, oral-genital, or ana l-genital) contact with a patient. Physicians older than 50 years and unmarried physicians were significantly more Likely to have dated pati ents. No differences in dating or sexual contact according to specialt y or gender were found. Physicians who reported having had sexual cont act with a patient were less Likely to report negative consequences of the contact than physicians who had personal knowledge of sexual cont act by other physicians. These results have implications for education al interventions for physicians.