The appropriateness of gatekeeping in the provision of reproductive health care for adolescents in Lithuania:the general practice perspective.
BACKGROUND
Adolescents' consultation of primary health care services remains problematic despite their accessibility. The reproductive health service seeking behavior of adolescents is the object of much research but little is known about how this behavior is influenced by the gatekeeping system. This study aimed to explore general practitioners' perceptions of the appropriateness of gatekeeping in adolescent reproductive health care.


METHODS
Twenty in-depth interviews regarding factors affecting adolescent reproductive health care were carried out on a diverse sample of general practitioners and analyzed using grounded theory.


RESULTS
The analysis identified several factors that shaped GPs' negative attitude to gatekeeping in adolescent reproductive health care. Its appropriateness in this field was questionable due to a lack of willingness on the part of GPs to provide reproductive health services for teenagers, their insufficient training, inadequately equipped surgeries and low perceived support for reproductive health service provision.


CONCLUSIONS
Since factors for improving adolescent reproductive health concern not only physicians but also the health system and policy levels, complex measures should be designed to overcome these barriers. Discussion of a flexible model of gatekeeping, encompassing both co-ordination of care provided by GPs and the possibility of patients' self-referral, should be included in the political agenda. Adolescents tend to under-use rather than over-use reproductive health services and every effort should be made to facilitate the accessibility of such services.
The Department of Family Medicine, Kaunas University of Medicine, Lithuania. gedijaru@takas.lt
Lina
L
Jaruseviciene
Gwenola
G
Levasseur
D000293:Adolescent; D016497:Adolescent Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D005194:Family Practice / Q000193:education / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D020793:Gatekeeping / Q000592:standards*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008097:Lithuania; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D034121:Reproductive Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires