What do doctors know?

Women may take it for granted that their primary care physicians know how to manage STDs, but they may be wrong. (1) In a sample of primary care physicians in Pennsylvania who answered a mailed questionnaire in 1998, the average number of correct answers to eight questions designed to measure knowledge about STD diagnosis and treatment was 5.7. Only 61% of the sample (which was made up of obstetrician-gynecologists, internists, pediatricians and family practitioners) gave at least six correct answers, which the researchers considered the threshold marking "good knowledge." In analyses controlling for demographic and professional characteristics, the likelihood that physicians' STD knowledge was good was significantly elevated among women (odds ratio, 2.1), doctors aged 40 and younger (2.3), those practicing in cities (1.7) and those who said they were familiar with the federal treatment guidelines (2.0). The researchers characterize physicians' knowledge of STD management as "too often poor" and emphasize the need for continuing education programs to focus on this area of care.

(1.) Wiesenfeld HC et al., Knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases in women among primary care physicians, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 2003, 32(11):649-633.