Indian-born patients attending a sexual health clinic in Australia have differing characteristics to their Australian-born counterparts.

We report a retrospective cross-sectional study from Western Sydney that assessed the sexual health characteristics of Indian-born patients attending sexual health services compared with Australian-born controls. The sexual health needs of Indian-born patients differed significantly from controls with those born in India reporting more sexual dysfunction and controls having more sexually transmitted infections (STI). These issues should be considered when delivering services to people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Midlevel personnel in obstetrics and gynecology practices--cost-effectiveness and consumer benefits.

Two private obstetrics-gynecology practices, in adjacent Northwest cities, which employ midlevel nurse practitioners for routine obstetric and gynecologic care were the subject of this study. At site A fees charged by the practitioner were 44 percent less than those for identical services provided by the physician. This was an attempt to pass cost savings directly to patients. At site B, fees were the same for both physician and practitioner, yielding a significant net income to the practice. At this latter site a proportion of the income was passed to patients by not increasing office fees for the years 1975 (when the practitioner was hired) through 1977, during which time the average fees of ten other physicians increased. The study shows that the use of midlevel personnel in private offices is highly cost-effective and profitable. Ideally, this profit can be passed on to patients by reduced overall office fees.