Time Alone During Health Visits for Adolescents and Young Adults: Secondary Analysis of a Nonrepresentative Global...

The World Health Organization (WHO) revised the Global Standards for Quality Health Care Services for Adolescents and a linked Adolescent Health Competencies documents in 2025. Young people across the world informed these revisions through a global online consultation about their health-care experiences. We examine whether these young people reported receiving time alone with their clinician at their last health-care visit.

We conducted a secondary analysis of WHO consultation data from a nonrepresentative sample (N = 406) of young people (aged 10-24 years) from 64 countries spanning all 6 UN regions. Respondents completed an anonymous survey available in 6 languages between March 2024 and June 2024 about their health-care experiences.

Overall, 79.2% of participants (N = 309/390, missing N = 16) reported having a visit with a health-care provider within the last 2 years, of whom 73.3% (N = 198/270, missing N = 39) reported time alone with their provider at their last visit. Rates did not differ by gender, rural versus urban settings, United Nations region, or country income group. Under 18 year olds were less likely than those 18 years or older to report time alone at their last visit (35.5% vs. 78.2%, x² = 25.7, p < .001). Youth accompanied by a parent or caregiver were also less likely to report time alone compared to unaccompanied youth (52.0% vs. 88.0%, x² = 39.3, p < .001), regardless of age.

Younger age and parental attendance at health-care visits were associated with lower likelihood of having had time alone with providers. Greater attention is needed within health systems to ensure that health services meet WHO standards around guidelines for confidential care.