Risk-taking and health-seeking behavior in men with a history of urethritis: is there a learning curve?

Studies addressing how past experience with sexually transmitted diseases (STD) influence health-seeking behaviors among at-risk men are few.

The goal of this study was to determine whether health-seeking behaviors among men diagnosed with urethritis differ based on whether they report prior urethritis.

Male STD clinic attendees answered a questionnaire regarding their demographic, sexual, and health-seeking characteristics. The men were stratified based on whether they reported prior urethritis.

Of 466 men, 297 reported prior urethritis. Symptomatic men diagnosed with urethritis who reported prior urethritis did not recognize their symptoms as a possible STD earlier than those reporting no urethritis history; there was also no difference between the groups in their interval to presenting for care once symptoms were recognized as a possible STD. Furthermore, men with prior urethritis were as likely to engage in sex acts once they recognized their symptoms as a possible STD manifestation.

Compared with men without prior urethritis, men with urethritis symptoms who reported prior urethritis did not recognize symptoms earlier, alter health-seeking behavior, or curtail sexual activity.