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Inappropriate Sexual Behaviour of Patients Towards French General Practitioners

Inappropriate Sexual Behaviour (ISB) of Patients Towards French General Practitioners: Prevalence, Nature and Impact on Professional Practice

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Observational
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05121623
Acronym
#MedTooFr
Enrollment
570
Registered
2021-11-16
Start date
2022-01-15
Completion date
2022-03-22
Last updated
2022-04-01

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Sex Behavior

Brief summary

Occupational sexual harassment (HS) has come to the fore in recent years, particularly with the #MeToo social movement that has encouraged women victims of sexual violence to speak out around the world. The medical profession is not exempt from this phenomenon, whether during the training or professional life of practitioners. In France, very little data is available on this subject, particularly among general practitioners. However, the specific nature of the doctor-patient relationship in general practice makes it a potentially high-risk setting. Furthermore, practitioners' experiences of inappropriate sexual behaviour (ISB) can lead to changes in professional practice, and can thus directly influence the quality of care provided to patients. It is also described in the literature that sexual harassment in physicians is independently associated with a decrease in job satisfaction and sense of security at work, and may be associated with an altered mental health status. To date, the only French studies on ISB and HS in medicine have focused on the period of medical study, and none have looked at the particular problem of the patient as perpetrator of the violence. It is in this context that it has been decided to set up this cross-sectional study with the aim of evaluating the prevalence of ISB occurring during consultations with French general practitioners, to describe their characteristics and to evaluate the responses provided and the repercussions on professional practice.

Interventions

OTHERQuestionnaire

Online auto-administered Questionnaire

Sponsors

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de la Réunion
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Observational model
OTHER
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum

Inclusion criteria

* Any general practitioner * Male or female * Sole or mixed private practice * Installed or substitute * Having completed their internship in general medicine * With or without a thesis * Practising alone, in a group practice or in a health centre -

Exclusion criteria

* Specialty other than general medicine * Exclusive hospital or salaried activity * Refusal to participate

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Prevalence and nature of inappropriate sexual behaviour of patients towards general practitioners in private practice in FranceOnce at the inclusion visitDetermined by auto-administered questionnaire (sociodemographic data, personal experience, author's characteristics, reactions and answers provided by the practitioners)

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Prevalence and nature of Inappropriate sexual behavior between men and womenOnce at the inclusion visitTo compare the prevalence and nature of Inappropriate sexual behavior according to the gender of the responding physicians determined by auto-administered questionnaire

Other

MeasureTime frameDescription
Risk factors associated with sexual inapropriate behaviorOnce at the inclusion visitIdentify the risk factors associated determined by auto-administered questionnaire (author's characteristics provided by the practitioners)
Responses of general practitioners to such a situationOnce at the inclusion visitTypes of responses provided by general practitioners to such a situation determined by auto-administered questionnaire (answers provided by the practitioners)
Impact and changes on professional practice and personal life.Once at the inclusion visitDescribe the impact and changes on professional practice and personal life determined by auto-administered questionnaire (reactions provided by the practitioners)

Countries

Reunion

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026