Teaching sexual history taking to health care professionals in primary care

Sexual history can be neglected in a routine nursing or medical assessment. Sarah Kipps gives tips to assist in making a sexual history taking session as comfortable as possible for both health professional and patient Practitioners in primary care are in a unique position to improve the sexual health of men and women. They can do this by introducing the topic of sexual health into their everyday consultations and thereby normalising the subject as part of routine health for the patient. There is evidence that health professionals find sexual history taking to be one of the more challenging aspects of a consultation. There are a number of different reasons for this: feeling not equipped to ask questions of such a sensitive nature; fear of opening a ‘can of worms’ which cannot be dealt with; and the general social embarrassment and difficulties experienced talking about sex in general. This article will give health professionals some tips and guides to assist in making a sexual history taking session as comfortable as possible for both health professional and patient.

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An HIV Primary Care Rotation Improved HIV and STI Knowledge, Enhanced Sexual History-Taking Skills, and Increased Interest in a Career in Infectious Diseases among Medical Students and Residents

Open Forum Infectious Diseases ◽

10.1093/ofid/ofab207 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Austin A Marshall ◽

Darcy A Wooten

Keyword(s):

Primary Care ◽

Medical Students ◽

Infectious Diseases ◽

Core Competencies ◽

Sexual History ◽

History Taking ◽

Primary Care Clinics ◽

Career Pathway ◽

Hiv Primary Care ◽

Sexual History Taking

Abstract Rotations in HIV primary care clinics have the potential to teach trainees core competencies and influence their career pathway. We found that fund of knowledge, confidence in obtaining a sexual history, and interest in an ID career all increased following an HIV clinic rotation.

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Practices and Barriers in Sexual History Taking: A Cross-Sectional Study in a Public Adult Primary Care Clinic

Journal of Sexual Medicine ◽

10.1016/j.jsxm.2020.05.004 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (8) ◽

pp. 1509-1519

Author(s):

Leonidas Palaiodimos ◽

Heather S. Herman ◽

Erika Wood ◽

Dimitrios Karamanis ◽

Cesar Martinez-Rodriguez ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Primary Care ◽

Primary Care Clinic ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Sexual History ◽

History Taking ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Care Clinic ◽

Sexual History Taking

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Factors Affecting Sexual History Taking in a Health Center Serving Homeless Persons

Qualitative Health Research ◽

10.1177/1049732318765442 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 28 (9) ◽

pp. 1395-1405

Author(s):

Timothy Joseph Sowicz ◽

Christine K. Bradway

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Center ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Sexual History ◽

History Taking ◽

Care Providers ◽

Opioid Use ◽

Factors Affecting ◽

Sexual History Taking ◽

Sexual Histories

Low rates of documentation of sexual histories have been reported and research on sexual history taking (SHT) has focused on the content of, barriers to collecting, and interventions to improve documentation of sexual histories. Absent from this literature is an understanding of the contextual factors affecting SHT. To address this gap, a focused ethnography of one health center was conducted. Data were collected through observations of health care encounters and interviews with health care providers (HCPs). No SHT was observed and this was likely influenced by patients’ characteristics, communication between patients and HCPs, the prioritization of patients’ basic needs, and time constraints imposed upon encounters. Given that the health center studied serves patients experiencing homelessness, behavioral health concerns, and opioid use disorder, findings illuminate areas for future inquiry into a patient population affected by social as well as physiologic determinants of health and potentially at high risk for adverse sexual health outcomes.

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