Patients’ Attitudes and Cooperation with Sexual History Taking in Primary Care and Associated Factors at Vajira Hospital Family Medicine Outpatient Clinic, Vajira Hospital: A Single-Center Cross-Sectional Study
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Abstract
Background: This study aimed to evaluate patients’ attitudes and cooperation in providing sexual health histories and identify factors influencing cooperation during sexual health interviews in outpatient family medicine settings.
Design: A cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted from March to May 2024 at the Family Medicine Department Outpatient Clinic
Methods: Patients aged 18 years or older completed an anonymous self-report questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and regression analyses were used to explore factors associated with cooperation during sexual health history taking.
Results: Of the 262 participants, 144 (55.0%) provided complete responses. The mean age was 44 years, with a predominance of females (69.5%), and 64.5% of respondents had at least an associate degree. Although 66.1% had never undergone sexual health assessments, nearly half (49.4%) regarded sexual health history as equally important as general health history.
Conclusions: Overall, patients exhibited positive attitudes (>56.8% across all aspects) and a high level of cooperation (>77.1% across all aspects) toward sexual history taking. Factors associated with higher cooperation included positive attitudes, being aged ≤ 48 years, higher education levels, and recognition of the importance of sexual health history.
Keywords: sexual health history, sexual health assessment, patient cooperation, attitudes toward sexual health, primary care
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