UK national re-audit of sexual history-taking

Abstract

A focused repeat national audit of sexual history-taking was conducted in genitourinary (GU) medicine clinics in the UK in 2010, addressing several areas of practice under-performance identified in the baseline 2008 national audit. The case-notes of 4285 patients were audited. An increase in documentation was observed for all measures, except legibility which was unchanged. Despite the overall improvement, several measures (chaperone offer, condom usage and four of five aspects of HIV risk assessment) remained below target.

Sexual history taking in general practice: managing sexually transmitted infections for female sex workers by doctors and assistant doctors in Vietnam

“…First, the physicians in this study reported less frequent sexual history taking than by physicians in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia. 25,27,29,[56][57][58][59] Among the studies mentioned above, only one study reported sexual history taking among FSWs, while the others reported sexual history taking among general clients. 27 Studies based on patient surveys conducted in South Korea and Switzerland show that up to three quarters of the patients reported never being asked by their physicians about their sexual history.…”

“…For all other areas of sexual history, namely drug use, STI history, sex of partners, route of sex, and sexual abuse experience, information was sought by far fewer physicians in the present study than physicians in the other studies. 25,29,56,58,59 Results of previous studies in Vietnam reported that being promiscuous was perceived to be the most common cause of STIs and patients faced a judgmental attitude from physicians. 37,38,62 It is plausible that in the present study the higher proportion of physicians enquiring about number of sexual contacts is influenced by similar attitudes.…”

“…58 Based on the available literature and local situation, a core set of questions for sexual history taking should be developed for use in Vietnam. 2,42,56,59,79 From this set of questions, a screening index that predicts the possibility of STI infections amongst different risk groups can be developed. 80 Of course, patients are an important dyad in the relationship with physicians.…”