1,721,067 research outputs found
The varied nature of women's sexuality: unresolved issues and a theoretical approach
No full textDuring the 20th century there were clear indications that the socio-cultural suppression of women's sexuality had lessened, revealing a marked variability of women's sexual expression. In this article we review the recent literature to explore explanations for this variability. It is clear that we know little about the nature of sexual desire, and in particular, what it is that is desired. There is also now substantial evidence that vaginal response, as measured by vaginal pulse amplitude, is a relatively automatic response to perception of sexual stimuli, regardless of whether these stimuli are perceived positively or result in subjective arousal. This is considered as a possible mechanism that allows vaginal intercourse without pain, even when the woman is not sexually aroused. The roles of androgens and estrogen in women's sexuality remain uncertain. The evidence is, however, consistent with there being a testosterone-dependent component of women's sexuality that is more important for some women than others. Finally, a new theoretical model is presented that aims to resolve these uncertainties and that proposes different types of women's sexuality. Once we have a better understanding of “normal” female sexuality, in its various forms, our ability to develop effective treatments for women's sexual problems should improve
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
The harmful consequences of elevating the doctor-patient relationship to be a primary goal of the general practice consultation
No full textThe burden of depression in primary care: a qualitative investigation of general practitioners' constructs of depressed people in the inner city
No full textDepression is a common problem, often being recurrent or becoming chronic. It has been stated that people with depression should continue to be predominantly managed in primary care. There is much evidence to suggest that the detection and management of depression by general practitioners (GPs) could be improved, but little work has focused on GPs' views on their work with depressed patients. This was a qualitative study exploring GPs' attitudes to the management of patients with depression. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 GPs in north-west England. These GPs were practising in urban or inner-city areas and were all based in practices that participated in undergraduate teaching. The interviews were audiotaped and subsequently transcribed. Analysis was by constant comparison until category saturation was achieved. The subjects conceptualized depression as an everyday problem of practice rather than as an objective diagnostic category. Thematic coding of their accounts suggested a tension between three kinds of views of depressed people, namely (1) that depression is a common and normal response to socioeconomic disadvantage and that it reflects the medicalization of these conditions, (2) that the diagnosis of depression offers a degree of secondary gain to both patients and doctors and (3) that GPs experienced depressed people as an intractable interactional problem. It was concluded that depression is commonly presented to GPs who feel that its diagnosis often involves the separation of a normal reaction to a harsh environment and true illness. In addition, they felt ill-equipped to deal with the long-term management of such patients. They doubted that anything therapeutic occurs in review consultations with such patients. This has an important implication for the construction of educational interventions around improving the recognition and treatment of depression in primary care: doctors may be reluctant to recognize and respond to such patients in depth because of the much wider structural and social factors that we have suggested in this paper
If the condom fits, wear it: a qualitative study of young African-American men
No full textThis is an open access article - Copyright @ 2004 BMJ Publishing GroupObjective: To extend the current knowledge base pertaining to condom failure among young African-American men by assessing their experiences with male condom use.
Methods: Qualitative assessments were conducted with 19 African-American men (aged 18–29 years) who had just been diagnosed with an STI and reported using condoms in the previous 3 months.
Results: Five categories were identified from the data. These categories pertained to: (1) the “fit and feel” of condoms; (2) condom brand and size; (3) application problems; (4) availability of condoms and lubricants; and (5) commitment to condom use. Common themes included reasons why men believed condoms would break or slip off during sex. Comfort problems, including tightly fitting condoms and condoms drying out during intercourse, were mentioned frequently. Condom associated erection problems were often described. Many men also noted that condom use reduced the level of sexual satisfaction for their female partners. Men noted that finding the right kind of condom was not always easy and it became apparent during the interviews that men typically did not acquire lubrication to add to condoms. Despite their expressed problems with using condoms, men were, none the less, typically emphatic that condom use is an important part of their protective behaviour against STIs.
Conclusion: Men were highly motivated to use condoms; however, they experienced a broad range of problems with condom use. With the exception of losing the sensation of skin to skin contact, the vast majority of these problems may be amenable to behavioural interventions.This study was funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Mental Health (1 R21 MH066682-01A1)
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