ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Giornale Italiano di Dermatologia e Venereologia 2016 April;151(2):169-77

Copyright © 2016 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

The psychological aspects in sexually transmitted infections

Eleonora CAMPOLMI ¹, Ugo SANTOSUOSSO ², Caterina SILVESTRI ³, Barbara GIOMI ⁴, Giuliano ZUCCATI ⁴ ✉

¹ Section of Dermatology, Psycology-Psychotherapy Department of Surgery and Translational Medicine, University of Florence, Florence, Italy; ² Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Florence, Florence, Italy; ³ ASL Toscana, Florence, Italy; ⁴ Section of Dermatology, Department of Surgery and Translational Medicine, University of Florence, Florence, Italy

BACKGROUND: Over the last years the number of sexually transmitted diseases has greatly increased. This can be attributed mainly to less rigidity in the gender role and to the ever growing sexual liberalization. Sexuality today as in the past, represents an important and complex dimension of the human being. With respect to the psychological area many authors think that there are specific personality traits that to a higher extent compared to others might push individuals to carry out inconsiderate behavior among which there has been found a higher risk of sexually transmitted diseases (STD). In the present paper preliminary data of a research carried out provides information about sexual habits among patients of the IST of Florence.
METHODS: A sample of 344 individuals, from 15 to over 70-year-old, Italians and strangers, has been asked to fill up a self-administered questionnaire.
RESULTS: Through these data the psychological aspects at the base of sexual habits in our reference sample are highlighted even more clearly. Through the analysis of these data it will be possible to get a larger number of information that can be used for the building of psychological support experiences that take into account the individual differences among patients one finds through consultations and support.
CONCLUSIONS: The psychological support is very important for a lot of patients who belong to the center and show inappropriate sexual behavior and exposed to risky sexual behavior.