[Sexual myths in an adult population]

Clinical observation ratifies the existence of commonly accepted erroneous beliefs (EB) in relation to sexuality. In the health care sector, reinforcing factors of these beliefs are the professionals who are not specifically trained to manage, or detect the same in addition to the variability of the criteria available on sexual health care.

The EB on sexuality were studied in 260 individuals (14-18 years) who are users of primary health care services. Four consultation offices of General Medicine were randomly selected, one by health care center (Area 20, Valencian Community, Spain). Subsequently, a structured interview was given to the users of these consultations over the period of one day. The interviews were carried out after receiving consent and guarantee of confidentiality. On the other hand, the results were compared with those previously obtained from the 44 health care professionals (HCP). The results are reported, the proportions compared (chi-square) to determine differences according to age, sex and level of education and the odds ratio was calculated to determine the probability of participation in EB according to sex. The response rate in users was 97.4% and is HCP 58%.

The proportion of EB ranged from 16.9% who believed coitus as the only "normal" sexual relationship and 63.8% who believed in the existence of two types of female orgasm. Depending on the beliefs, statistically significant differences were observed according to age (from p = 0.03 to p < 0.0000) and the level of education (from p = 0.01 to p < 0.0000) and between the user adult population and the HCP (from p = 0.01 to p < 0.0000).

There are numerous erroneous beliefs regarding sexuality in both primary health care users and, to a lesser extent, Spanish health care professionals. The influence of moral criteria, centered on reproduction, and prevalent sociocultural norms and values is of note. It was found that erroneous beliefs do not decrease with the educational level, but rather, change.