Social background and diagnosis. Survey of Male Clinic Registrations.

Abstract

The usual reservations concerning the reliability of information received from clinic patients must be made, although we have no evidence of systematic distortion in the data provided, apart from the understatement of previous clinic attendances. Analysis of the 3,045 male registrations included in the survey revealed that: (1)More than half were of patients under 25 years of age. This age group included almost one-third of the cases of syphilis, 56-3% of the cases of gonorrhoea, and 49-7% diagnoses of NGU. (2) Some 30% of registrations were of married men living with their wives. The proportion of registrations in this category increased substantially through the upper age groups. (3) The incidence of gonorrhoea and of syphilis was higher among the separated or divorced than among single, married, or widowed men. (4) The incidence of gonorrhoea was higher among patients in their teens and twenties than in succeeding age groups; NGU was diagnosed most frequently among patients in their forties. (5) The incidence of NGU varied inversely to that of gonorrhoea in relation to social class. Gonorrhoea was diagnosed more frequently among manual than among non-manual workers, while the incidence of NGU was higher among white-collar workers (including students). The highest incidence of gonorrhoea was recorded among registrations in the semi- and unskilled categories where the incidence of NGU was lowest, while the lowest and highest frequencies of gonorrhoea and NGU respectively were recorded among registrations in Social Class III (N)-comprising mainly clerical and sales workers. Some of the above findings may be of mainly local significance, and much additional evidence is required before the influence of such factors as marital status and social class can be adequately interpreted.

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