The attitude of the Public Toward Social History Taking in Southern Saudi Arabia

Social history taking is an important element of a medical interview. No previous studies, however, addressed public attitudes regarding social history taking in Saudi Arabia.

This study explores public attitudes about the importance of social history taking by doctors in Southern Saudi Arabia.

A cross-sectional study was conducted to collect public opinion about social history taking using a self-administered questionnaire. Social history taking was defined as questions about general sociodemographics (job, income, marital status, housing conditions, and animal contact) and social habits (travel, smoking, alcohol drinking, illicit drug use, and sexual history). Descriptive statistics were conducted, along with a comparison between categorical variables.

A total of 510 respondents completed the questionnaire, of which 381 (74.7%) had a medical history taken before. A complete social taking was not obtained from those with medical history previously taken. Marital status (73.2%), smoking (49.1%), and occupation (32.8%) were the commonest inquiries, while income (3.7%) and sexual history (6.6%) were the least. Most respondents had no reservations about answering questions about their social history. Among the general demographic questions, job and marital status were more likely to be answered, whereas income and housing inquiries were less likely to be answered. Among social habits, sexual history followed by illicit drug use and alcohol drinking inquiries were less likely to be answered.

Detailed social history taking is uncommon among doctors. The public is open to discussing their social status and habits. However, questions involving income, housing, and some social habits like illicit drugs, alcohol, and sexual history are less likely to be faithfully reported and thus need to be handled appropriately. It is crucial for healthcare providers to approach social history taking with sensitivity and respect and to create a private environment for patients where they can freely and accurately share their social histories.