Comportamento sexual de estudantes de medicina portugueses e seus fatores preditivos

Objective: To assess the prevalence of risk behavior, sexual behavior and sexual dysfunctions in Portuguese medical students. Methods: Students of the Faculty of Medicine of Porto were divided into three groups according to the year they are enrolled: group 1 (1st/2nd year, n = 288), group 2 (3rd/4th year, n = 267) and group 3 (5th/6th year, n = 250). An anonymous questionnaire about sexuality and risk behavior was filled in. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS®. Results: The questionnaire was answered by 805 students (female = 547; male = 258), with median age of 20 years. The median age of the first sexual experience was 17 years, but 33.9% of the students denied having any sexual experience. The most common sexual practice is the joint practice of oral and vaginal sex (56.2%). Ejaculatory dysfunction was the sexual dysfunction most referred by men (18.2%), followed by erectile dysfunction (7.8%), particularly when associated to illicit drugs consumption (22.2%). The sexual dysfunctions most reported by women were dyspareunia (40.8%), difficulty in attaining an orgasm (34.7%) and lack of lubrication (18.5%). Conclusions: Although medical students represent a healthy young population, the physical, emotional and mental strain they are subjected to affect negatively their sexuality. Furthermore, sexual self-awareness may negatively impact future interactions with patients with sexual dysfunctions. This cross-sectional study is very inclusive, and demonstrated that this population is globally inexperienced. However, more studies of Portuguese population are needed in order to better understand their profile in relation to the other youngsters.