Paediatric Adolescent Unit, Hospital de Dona Estefânia, Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Central, EPE, Lisbon, Portugal;
18th European Congress of International Association for Adolescent Health (IAAH), “Adolescent well-being”, 16-17/06/2014, Paris, France
Introduction: In Portugal,the recent paediatric age extension to 18 years old brought new challenges to the Paediatrician, who is now frequently faced with adolescence gynecological problems. Through the longstanding contact with the teen and her family, the Paediatrician is in an ideal position to approach common concerns in this field. However, lack of familiarity and training may compromise it.
Aims: To identify gynecologic issues evaluated in hospital General Pediatrics and Adolescent Clinics, both by consultants and residents.
Methods: An anonymous survey was filled out by 96 physicians from 4 pediatric departments from Lisbon and surrounding areas. Studied variables: girls' age and clinical criteria at the moment of referral to Gynecology Clinics; Paediatrician's self evaluated degree of knowledge and need for medical training in this area.
Results: Ninety percent of the clinicians attend patients until 18 years old in their daily practice. Pubertal development and Tanner stage are systematically evaluated by 62% and 52%, respectively. Furthermore, topics like sexuality, STIs, contraception and dating violence are also seen as belonging to the Paediatricians' competence by 91%. No clinician’s gender or age differences were found. Girls are always referred to Gynecology Clinics by 26% between 12 and 15 years old. About 44% of the Physicians feel uncomfortable when approaching these issues and 87% express learning needs.
Conclusions: showed important information gaps and urgent learning needs in this area. More opportunities for being taught should be included in the Portuguese Paediatric Training Program as well as activities in Continuing Medical Education for General Paediatrics consultants.
Palavras Chave: gynecology; adolescence; paediatricians