Aspectos psicológicos, sociales y culturales de las enfermedades venéreas

Abstract

An analysis had been made of the scientific literature available on the psychological, social and cultural aspects of venereal diseases, and attention has been drawn to some of the knowledge accumulated by behavioral sciences, which has been ordered in accordance with models of the natural history of disease and preventive behaviour in health and in sickness

The examination of scientific literature shows:

a)The existence of a small number of scientific propositions that have been confirmed and on an abundance of explanations which have not been tested

b)Very imprecise definitions and variations in the use of indicators for measuring relevant concepts such as sexual promiscuity, frequency of sexual relations and degree of care in selecting a partner

c) Existence of "ecological fallacies" in many of the interpretations of the findings of research studies. Thus, positive correlations by countries, cities or regions between indices of the frequency of sexual activity and the frequency of venereal diseases, may not support the hypothesis that the individuals who are most sexually active are those who are most exposed to the risk of contracting venereal diseases. In other words, the analysis of social groups is inappropriate when the hypothesis relates to individuals

d) There is a lack of comparative studies designed to test very general hypotheses

In view of the findings of this survey of ...(AU)