Adolescents' views regarding sexual history taking

Abstract

To address the health needs of adolescents, health care providers need to understand adolescent perceptions of the sexual history taking process. Adolescents (n = 113) were recruited from two sources of health care to complete a questionnaire regarding sexual history taking issues. The results revealed that there were differences in demographics, practice characteristics, and communication strategies between the private office and the hospital clinic. Attitudes and beliefs related to the discussion of sensitive issues were similar. Most adolescents would like health care providers to discuss sensitive topics directly. It is important for health care providers to feel comfortable initiating discussion of sensitive issues directly.

PIP: This study described adolescents' perception of their sexual history taken by health care providers. There were two stages of data collection. The first included focus group discussion, while the second was the administration of a sexual history-taking questionnaire. Adolescents were recruited from three locations (private pediatric practice, adolescent clinic setting, or a Job Corps Center) and were of a mean age of 16 years. Findings revealed differences in demographics and practice characteristics, as well as in strategies used when communicating with the care provider. However, there were similarities in attitudes and beliefs related to the discussion of sensitive issues. The majority of the adolescents believed that issues related to sexuality were important for their health care provider to discuss. Moreover, they preferred that their care provider address sexuality issues within a generally caring context; however, they also favored a direct approach.