Adolescent Health Knowledge of Family Physicians

Abstract

Background: There are certain life periods when physicians are more cautious with their patients. However, health needs are often disregarded throughout the adolescent era, even though it is a time when fast changes occur in many facets of life, including physical, psychological, cognitive, and social development. This study aimed to contribute to the improvement of adolescent health by measuring the degree of knowledge of family physicians (FPs) on adolescent health services. Material-Method: The was a descriptive-cross-sectional design study. A questionnaire was given to 2200 FPs by e-mail and 344 accepted to participate. The questionnaire had a 13% response rate. Results: Women made up 56.4% of the participants (n=194) and the average age of the participants was 38.77 years (SD: 10.08) (min: 25, max: 80). Two hundred fifteen (62.5%) of the FPs who participated in the survey, had encountered adolescent patients. A statistical correlation was found between having children and the idea that questions should be asked with one-word answers to the target to obtain answers in the adolescent age group (p