Are psychiatrists guilty of 'ageism' when it comes to taking a sexual history?

Objective. To determine current perceived practice of consultant psychiatri sts regarding taking a sexual history and management of sexual dysfunction of their patients. Design. A postal questionnaire survey. Participants. A group of old age and general consultant psychiatrists. Measures. A questionnaire with two different case vignettes describing an e lderly male complaining of low mood (the other vignette described a middle- aged man with the same complaint) and questions regarding taking a sexual h istory and management of sexual dysfunction. Results. Response rate of 61% was obtained. Consultant psychiatrists (gener al and old age) take a sexual history much more frequently of middle-aged m en than of elderly men (p<0.001). There are no statistically significant di fferences between the two groups of psychiatrists in their psychiatric asse ssment regarding taking sexual history and the management of sexual dysfunc tion in elderly men (p>0.05). Middle-aged men with sexual dysfunction are r eferred to a specialized clinic, whilst elderly men are referred to a commu nity psychiatric nurse. Conclusions. These findings indicate that taking a sexual history is often omitted in the psychiatric assessment of elderly men. Elderly men with sexu al dysfunction do not receive appropriate referral and treatment. Human sex uality and particularly aged sexuality is an area that requires more attent ion in psychiatric training. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.