Do the attitudes and beliefs of young teenagers towards general practice influence actual consultation behaviour?

Background, Teenagers are believed to have health concerns that are not ade quately addressed in primary care because of perceived barriers that inhibi t them from consulting a general practitioner (GP). We report the results o f a study examining links between potential attitudinal barriers and actual help-seeking behaviour. Aim. To determine whether the attitudes of teenagers rewards general practi ce are associated with differences in consultation patterns. Method. Results of a postal questionnaire survey of attitudes to general pr actice, performed among teenage patients aged 13 to 15 years registered wit h five general practices in the East Midlands, were analysed in relation to consultation data from retrospective casenote analysis for the preceding 1 2 months. Results. Matched questionnaire and consultation data were available for 678 teenagers. We found few significant differences in overall consultation ra tes between teenagers expressing differing attitudes about aspects of gener al practice. Differences did exist in relation to perceived difficulty in g etting an appointment, feeling able to confide in a GP, and perception of a dequate time being given in the consultation. Fear of embarrassment was ass ociated with lower consultation rates for gynaecological problems and contr aception. Conclusions. Negative perceptions of general practice by teenagers may have less of an influence on actual consultation behaviour than previously beli eved. However, there are some aspects of care that merit further attention if teenagers are to feel able to consult their GP more easily.