Attitudes to taking a sexual history in general practice in Victoria, Australia

Abstract

Objective: To examine general practitioners' (GPs') attitudes towards taking a sexual history. Methods: Questions on sexual history taking were included in a random survey on the STD knowledge, attitudes, and practices of 600 GPs practicing in Victoria, Australia. Results: Most GPs commonly asked patients about safe sex (79%), number of sex partners (63%), and injecting drug use (60%) while fewer asked about recent overseas travel (50%) and sex with sex workers (31%). GPs who performed sexual health consultations daily or weekly identified barriers to sexual history taking to be of less concern than those who performed such consultations infrequently. Most GPs (92%) would take a sexual histo..