title: Where do patients go for treatment of urethritis?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Urethritis is characterized by urethral inflammation, and it can result from both infectious and noninfectious conditions. Physicians and other health care providers play a critical role in preventing and treating urethritis.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to describe and identify predictors of health care seeking behavior among men with urethritis.
  
  
  METHODS
  In total, 98 male patients aged between 16 to 52 years-of-age (mean 30.9 ± 8.0 years), who attended our clinic with symptoms of urethritis, were included in the study. We conducted face-to-face interviews with the patients using a 9-item survey questionnaire. Patients were divided into three groups according to their level of education as follows: group I (n = 44), elementary school; group II (n = 38), high school; and group III (n = 16), university.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the 98 patients evaluated, the source of treatment was physicians in 44 patients (44.9%), drugstores in 38 cases (38.77%), and friends in 16 patients (16.32%). There was a statistically significant difference found between the groups according to the source of treatment (P < 0.001). The most common factors associated with seeking care from other sources, rather than physicians, were economic reasons in 19 patients (35.18%), confidentiality concerns in 24 (44.4%), and ease of access in 11 patients (20.37%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A substantial proportion of patients with urethritis sought help from other sources, rather than physicians. The results of our study show that the patients with higher levels of education were more likely to seek help from health care services. It is important to promote the public's knowledge through informative studies and educational materials in order to encourage patients to seek rapid and effective treatment from proper sources.
authors.affiliation: Alanya Practice and Research Center, Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, Baskent University, Alanya, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mustafa Burak
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Hoscan
authors.affiliation: Alanya Practice and Research Center, Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, Baskent University, Alanya, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tunckiran
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, Suleyman Demirel University, Isparta, Turkey.
authors.forename: Taylan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oksay
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, Suleyman Demirel University, Isparta, Turkey.
authors.forename: Alper
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ozorak
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, Baskent University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ozkardes
keywords: Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Therapeutics; Urethritis