Talking to Your Teen Patients About Sex

Talking to Your Teen Patients About Sex

According to a report in the journal of the American Medical Association, Pediatrics, Duke University researchers have reported that more than a third, that's thirty five percent, of routine physician visits by early and middle teenagers include no conversation about sex. That's a very important issue. In their study of two hundred and fifty three adolescent clinic visits, they obtained audio recordings of the visits and analyzed them. In total about two thirds of all visits involved the discussion of some sexual issues but the average time allotted to discussions of sex and sexuality was only thirty six seconds. That's far too little time for a physician to give sound guidance and answer crucial questions. The determination is this is something that needs to be addressed and physicians should really think about.