In order to assess women's self-perception of their risk of infection by HIV, research was performed among 654 women who had consulted in a family planning centre in the Paris region. Of the 452 (69%) women who took part in this research, 77% considered themselves as 'not at risk of carrying the AIDS virus', 11% as 'at risk' and 12% did not give a specific answer. The most important risk factors noted by the patient and the doctor were found to be the number of partners, the use of syringes and the non-or faulty use of condoms. Estimates of the risk of infection by physicians had a high correlation with those of the women, although there were wide differences between the opinions of the six doctors involved. In one case out of three the doctors were unable to decide whether or not their patient was at risk. The evident difficulties experienced by these physicians show an urgent need for the development of specific medical training programmes. The seroprevalence of 2.4% of HIV infection among the women studied, and 1.1% of those who consulted during the study period, confirm the importance of carrying out specific studies on women consulting in family planning centres.