The Psychosexual Dysfunction Clinic at the Maudsley Hospital, London: A survey of referrals between January and December 1996

This paper describes the demographic characteristics, referral sources and types of referral problems of 135 patients referred to a psychosexual clinic located in an inner-city area of south London from January until December 1996. Results were comparable to those from another psychosexual clinic located in a similar inner-city area. Results from both these clinics differ from earlier reports of non-inner-city clinics in male to female distributions and most common referral source. The factors predictive of non-attendance were (a) non-return of a questionnaire asking for background information; (b) gender, with males being less likely to attend initial and treatment sessions; (c) place of birth, with non-UK born referrals being less likely to attend initial and treatment sessions; and (d) employment status, with the unemployed being less likely to attend treatment sessions. Identifying the characteristics of non-attenders can have important implications for the provision of cost-effective treatment and the optimal use of services.