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‘No sex please, we're British’

Taking a sexual history from in-patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Swaran P. Singh*
Affiliation:
Mapperley Hospital, Porchester Rd, Nottingham NG3 6AA
Andrew J. Beck
Affiliation:
Mapperley Hospital, Porchester Rd, Nottingham NG3 6AA
*
Correspondence
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Abstract

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The case notes of 100 consecutive admissions to a general adult psychiatry service revealed that no sexual history was recorded in 73 cases. Only one patient had a detailed sexual history taken. In 22 cases the sex history was limited to a single mention of ‘reduced libido’ and in another four cases a brief explanation was done. Sexual side-effects of medication were not explored in any case. Sex history was more likely to be recorded when the doctor and patient were of the same sex; in cases with a history of sexual abuse or relationship problems; and where psychopathology had a sexual content.

Type
Original Papers
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

References

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