THE ROLE OF GYNECOLOGISTS IN WOMENS HEALTH-CARE - WOMENS VIEWS

Objective. Reproductive matters are common reasons to use health servi ces, and both primary care providers (general practitioners and public health nurses) and specialists (gynaecologists) can be consulted. The purpose of this study was to find out how Finnish women think about a nd use specialist care in reproductive matters; gynaecological health checks, contraception, and prenatal care served as examples. Methods. The data come from a questionnaire survey sent in 1994 to a representa tive sample (74% response rate) of 18-44-year-old Finnish women (n=218 9). Results. Most (87%) women considered regular health checks by a gy naecologist important, and 55% had visited a gynaecologist regularly i n the past 5 years. Healthier women and women having more education we re more likely to visit gynaecologists regularly Most women (86%) pref erred a gynaecologist to a general practitioner for contraceptive matt ers, and 54% reported visiting one for their last contraceptive visit. Maternity centres with their public health nurses and general practit ioners were the main source of prenatal care. Conclusions. The results suggest the need to study the benefits of regular gynaecological heal th checks, and to define the best provider in common reproductive matt ers. Evaluation should include organizational impacts, such as those o f the division of work between primary and secondary health care and s mall area population responsibility.