Expectations and knowledge of pelvic examinations in a random sample of Danish teenagers

The purpose of the study was to describe teenagers' expectations and knowledge of the pelvic examination (PE). The study was carried out as a cross-sectional postal questionnaire study. A total of 1500 women, aged 17 years, were selected at random from all Danish women of that age. The response rate was 76%, and 551 of these 1112 teenagers had experienced their first PE. Among the teenagers who had not had a PE, 48% thought the examination would be painful, 29% feared that the doctor would discover abnormal anatomy, 67% felt they would be embarrassed by exposing their genitals and 23% expected to be indisposed for the rest of the examination day. Among the teenagers who had not experienced a PE, only 17% felt that they had sufficient knowledge of the examination, compared to 68% in the group who had already experienced an examination. In the group who had not experienced a PE 33% knew what the doctor was able to inspect during the instrumental part of the examination, compared to 55% in the other group with experience. It is concluded that a considerable proportion of teenagers have negative expectations of the PE, and increased effort to improve teenagers' expectations and knowledge of the PE may be recommended.