Current Status of Venereal Disease in New York City: A Survey of 6,649 Physicians in Solo Practice

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Abstract
Following a pilot study to determine the categories of physicians in solo practice treating VD in N. Y. C., 8 categories were surveyed by mailed questionnaire about the status of their VD practice for the period between Jan. 1960 and Sept. 1961, 83% responded. Of these 39% said that during this period they had treated a total of 2869 cases of primary and secondary syphilis and 15,573 cases of gonorrhea, which when compared with Health Dept. records showed that not more than 60% of syphilis and 35% of gonorrhea was reported. The majority were treated by general practitioners and internists who rarely saw more than 1-5 cases annually. The remainder were seen by dermatologists, obstetrician-gynecologists, urologists, proctologists and osteopaths. The majority of sex contacts of these patients were not brought to examination or treatment by these physicians; approximately l/10th of the new cases were among male homosexuals; more than l/5th in persons under 20; only l/5th of the physicians utilized the Health Dept. contact interviewing services and almost 1/3rd had difficulty in obtaining darkfield examination. The paper includes other pertinent information elicited from physicians and contains suggestions for improvement in VD control measures.