Are medical students confident in taking a sexual history? An assessment on attitude and skills from an upper middle income country.

Farnaza Ariffin,Ken Lee Chin,Chirkjenn Ng,Maizatullifah Miskan,Mohammad Rodi Isa,Verna Karmun Lee

doi:10.1186/s13104-015-1220-y

Farnaza Ariffin, Ken Lee Chin + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-015-1220-y

Copy DOI

Abstract

BackgroundSexual history training during undergraduate education is essential for preparing future doctors to handle patients’ sexual health concerns. The purpose of this study was to assess the attitudes and perceptions of final-year medical students in Malaysia toward sexual history taking and the training they receive from their medical schools.MethodsThe study used a cross-sectional survey of 379 final-year medical students from three medical schools in Malaysia. Students were asked to rate their attitudes and perceptions regarding training on taking sexual histories using a newly developed questionnaire with good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.73). Ethics approval was obtained from the relevant medical schools, and the statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS, Version 20.0.ResultsThe mean age of participants was 23.58 ± 0.65 SD. Participants reported high interest in sexual health and felt it was important for doctors to know how to take a sexual history (95%). Among the participants, only half felt comfortable in taking sexual histories from patients. The participants identified cultural and religious differences between the doctor and the patient as a potential barrier for discussing sexual health. Participants were aware of their own practice and ability, as well as their limitations, in taking sexual histories. Less than half (46%) felt that the training they received adequately prepared them to take sexual histories.ConclusionsThis study identified gaps in sexual health training among medical schools in Malaysia. The delivery of sexual health education program should incorporate confidence building and to make students feel comfortable to take sexual histories from patients. The barrier caused by differences in culture or religion between a doctor and a patient may be overcome through cross cultural and cultural competency training. This is important for multi-faith, multi cultural societies such as Malaysia and other similar countries.

Highlights

Sexual history training during undergraduate education is essential for preparing future doctors to handle patients’ sexual health concerns
The purpose of this study was to assess the attitudes and perceptions of final-year medical students in Malaysia regarding sexual history taking and the training they receive from their medical schools
This study has shown that medical students are interested and recognize the importance in attaining skills in sexual history taking

Summary

Introduction

Sexual history training during undergraduate education is essential for preparing future doctors to handle patients’ sexual health concerns. The purpose of this study was to assess the attitudes and perceptions of final-year medical students in Malaysia toward sexual history taking and the training they receive from their medical schools. In 2002, the World Health Organization (WHO) defined sexual health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity in all matters relating to STI is increasing worldwide. The WHO estimated the global incidence of STIs in 2008 in people aged 14–49 to be 498.9 million, compared with 300 million cases in Ariffin et al BMC Res Notes (2015) 8:248. In a Malaysian national study conducted in 1994–1995, nearly 1.0% of 1,379 teenagers aged 13–19 years had engaged in sexual intercourse [5], and this prevalence had increased to 5.4% in 2001 [6] and 12.6% in 2005 [7]. Police statistics reported 517 cases of baby dumping from 2005 to February 2011 [8]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion