Factors Affecting Sexual History Taking in a Health Center Serving Homeless Persons

Low rates of documentation of sexual histories have been reported and research on sexual history taking (SHT) has focused on the content of, barriers to collecting, and interventions to improve documentation of sexual histories. Absent from this literature is an understanding of the contextual facto...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Qualitative health research 2018-07, Vol.28 (9), p.1395-1405
Main Authors: Sowicz, Timothy Joseph, Bradway, Christine K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anthropology, Cultural
Attitude of Health Personnel
Basic needs
Clinical outcomes
Communication
Community Health Centers - organization & administration
Community Health Centers - standards
Cultural Competency
Ethnography
Female
Health behavior
Health care delivery
Health care industry
Health facilities
Health problems
Health Risk Behaviors
Health services
Health status
Health technology assessment
High risk
Homeless people
Homeless Persons
Humans
Male
Medical History Taking - standards
Medical personnel
Opioid-Related Disorders - epidemiology
Opioids
Patient assessment
Patients
Professional-Patient Relations
Qualitative research
Sexual Behavior
Sexual health
Sexual histories
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Summary:Low rates of documentation of sexual histories have been reported and research on sexual history taking (SHT) has focused on the content of, barriers to collecting, and interventions to improve documentation of sexual histories. Absent from this literature is an understanding of the contextual factors affecting SHT. To address this gap, a focused ethnography of one health center was conducted. Data were collected through observations of health care encounters and interviews with health care providers (HCPs). No SHT was observed and this was likely influenced by patients’ characteristics, communication between patients and HCPs, the prioritization of patients’ basic needs, and time constraints imposed upon encounters. Given that the health center studied serves patients experiencing homelessness, behavioral health concerns, and opioid use disorder, findings illuminate areas for future inquiry into a patient population affected by social as well as physiologic determinants of health and potentially at high risk for adverse sexual health outcomes.
ISSN:1049-7323
1552-7557
DOI:10.1177/1049732318765442