How to take a sexual history

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Nursing
• Sexual Health

Background:

• The National Strategy for Sexual Health and HIV promotes primary care for routine sexual health services.
• Patient care is increasingly managed by primary health care teams instead of specialized genito-urinary medicine clinics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide a structured approach for taking sexual histories and assessing risk.
• To guide nurses, midwives, and community health professionals in sexual health care.
• To identify core questions for effective patient risk assessment.

Main Methods:

• The article outlines a structured method for conducting sexual health assessments.
• It details essential questions for gathering patient sexual history and risk factors.

Main Results:

• A structured approach facilitates effective sexual history taking and risk assessment.
• Community health professionals can utilize these methods in primary care settings.

Conclusions:

• Effective sexual history taking is crucial for accurate diagnosis and care planning in primary sexual health settings.
• This structured approach supports the integration of sexual health services into primary care.