Truth Be Told: Adolescents’ Disclosure of Sexual Activity to Healthcare Providers

The purpose of this study was to describe whether adolescent and young adult patients truthfully disclose sexual activity to providers during a sexual history and explore associations between disclosure and receipt of recommended services. Data from the 2018 National Survey of Sexual Health and Beha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of adolescent health 2021-03, Vol.68 (3), p.623-625
Main Authors: Liddon, Nicole, Pampati, Sanjana, Steiner, Riley J., Hensel, Devon J., Tsung-chieh Fu, Beckmeyer, Jonathon, Herbenick, Debby
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adolescent clinical services
Adolescent sexual health
Adolescents
Adult
Disclosure
Ethnicity
Health behavior
Health Personnel
Humans
Patient–provider relationship
Polls & surveys
Race
Reproductive health
Reproductive Health Services
Sex crimes
Sexual Behavior
Sexual harassment
Sexual Health
Sexual health services
Sexual history
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
STD
Teenagers
Truth
Truth Disclosure
Young Adult
Young adults
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Summary:The purpose of this study was to describe whether adolescent and young adult patients truthfully disclose sexual activity to providers during a sexual history and explore associations between disclosure and receipt of recommended services. Data from the 2018 National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior were used to describe self-reported disclsoure of sexually active 14- to 24-year-olds who had a health care visit in the previous year where a sexual history was taken (n = 196). We examined bivariate associations between disclosure and age, race/ethnicity, sex, sexual identity, and receipt of sexual health services. Most (88%) respondents reported telling their provider the truth about sexual activity. A higher proportion of the younger adolescents (14- to 17-year-olds) did not disclose compared with the 18- to 24-year-old respondents (25.4% vs 3.9%; p < .001). A higher proportion of patients who disclosed reported having a sexually transmitted disease test (69.6% vs 26.7%; p < .001); being offered a sexually transmitted disease test (44.3% vs 4.5%; p < .001); and being asked by providers about number of partners (54.3% vs 15.4%; p < .01). Most young patients disclose their sexual history to their provider, but younger patients might be less likely to do so. Positive patient-provider relationships may encourage disclosure of sexual activity and support receipt of indicated sexual and reproductive health services.
ISSN:1054-139X
1879-1972
DOI:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.07.005