Physician attitudes to the concept of ‘men's health’ in Asia

Abstract 

Background

Men's health is an emerging medical and public health concept, but it is confronted by special challenges in the Asia-Pacific medical and cultural context.

Methods

A telephone survey was conducted with physicians in Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. The interview was conducted in Korean (Korea), Mandarin (Taiwan) or English (Singapore) by trained interviewers. The physicians interviewed were drawn from a variety of medical specialties including urology, primary care, endocrinology and cardiology.

Results

In total, 810 physicians from various medical specialities took part in the survey. There was only broad general agreement (>50%) between the physicians in the various countries on a range of questions relating to men's health, such as the conditions most associated with men's health, the predictability of illness/disability with age etc, and physician willingness to discuss problems in sexual health.

Conclusions

The data from this survey suggest that, although not as clearly defined as women's health, the treatment of men's health cuts across many different medical specialties and takes in a broad spectrum of health conditions. Therefore, there is a clear opportunity for the medical community to define, refine and improve the treatment and understanding of men's health in Asia.

Keywords: Physicians, Men's health, Survey, Urology, Cardiology, Endocrinology