ArticleJournal of human reproductive sciences
Help-Seeking Behaviour and Care Delays in Indian Patients Attending a Speciality Sexual Health Clinic: A Retrospective Cohort study.
Article in Journal of human reproductive sciences. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Sexual disorders such as erectile dysfunction (ED), premature ejaculation (PE), low sexual desire (LSD) and vaginismus substantially affect psychosocial well-being yet remain underreported in India due to stigma, limited provider training and fragmented care pathways. Aim: The aim of this study was to examine help-seeking patterns, delays in care and prior treatment attempts amongst patients presenting with sexual disorders. Settings and Design: This was a retrospective observational study using anonymised records from a specialised sexual health clinic in India (January 2022-December 2024). Materials and Methods: Records of patients with ED ( Statistical Analysis Used: Descriptive statistics were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Results: Most patients (72%) had not sought formal care before presentation, and 46% reported symptoms for more than 1 year. Self-medication was common in ED (12.7%) and PE (11.3%), particularly amongst individuals over 30 years, but uncommon in vaginismus (0.6%). Prior consultations were limited (ED: 24.5%; PE: 21.0%), and patients under 30 years were least likely to have accessed care. Older age correlated with greater self-medication ( Conclusion: Substantial delays in help-seeking persist across sexual health diagnoses, especially amongst younger patients and those with ED or PE was observed. These findings highlight gaps in awareness, accessibility and confidence in seeking care. Strengthening clinician training, improving public education and expanding telehealth pathways may support earlier presentation and better outcomes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.