Behavioural and social characteristics of the patient with repeated venereal disease and his effect on statistics on venereal diseases.

Abstract

Personality characteristics and social circumstances in patients repeatedly infected with venereal diseases were investigated. An effort was made to identify characteristics that would differentiate a repeat patient (RP) from a non-repeat patient (NRP). Two studies were carried out. In the 1st, a group of patients from a venereal disease clinic in a large general hospital was interviewed and then the patients were asked to complete a questionnaire. In the 2nd study, data from RP and NRP venereal disease patients drawn from medical and social case histories from a 2nd hospital were compared. RP were different from NRP in terms of social and psychological characteristics.