View of the Public Health System users regarding proctology

proctology is a specialty of extreme importance due to the high prevalence of anorectal diseases in the population. despite this fact and its history from the origin of humanity, it is marked by insufficient knowledge, prejudice and teasing. objective: evaluate the degree of knowledge about proctology, obtaining data, which may guide and emphasize the need for campaigns to disseminate the specialty. method: an ecological study was conducted on the people's degree of knowledge about the specialty of proctology. we interviewed 200 patients from august 2008 to january 2009, who came to the outpatient clinic of the unified health system, in five different medical specialties in the city of itajaí (sc). results: among the interviewees, 86% did not know what proctology was. of the 28 (14%) respondents that said they knew it, only 21 (10.5%) answered correctly when they were asked what the specialty was about. conclusion: despite the high prevalence of anorectal diseases, a great percentage of the population is unaware of the specialty. this fact could be due to the social prejudice and the lack of information provided by health professionals.