title: [The family practitioner and the postcoital test].
abstract: There is still a great deal of controversy on the value of the postcoital test. Some consider it to be a valuable method for the general practitioner to evaluate the interaction in vivo between spermatozoa and cervical mucus, in spite of the poor predictive value of the test. The postcoital test is in fact only an indirect method for the detection of the production of moving sperms. As a negative postcoital test is frequently due to bad timing of the test, multiple mandatory intercourse is often necessary, which may lead to frustration and sexual dysfunction. Moreover, there are no indications that the postcoital test with its poor discriminatory power may be better in general practice than the fertility evaluations by a specialist as standardisation and reproducibility problems are equal in both settings. Therefore semen analysis appears to be a better option, for the general practitioner as well.
authors.affiliation: Academisch Medisch Centrum/Universiteit van Amsterdam.
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Bossuyt
authors.forename: J V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Hamerlynck
mesh_terms: D005194:Family Practice / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D013076:Sperm Count / Q000379:methods*; D013081:Sperm Motility
vernacular_title: De huisarts en de post-coitumtest.