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Psychiatric out-patients' views on talking about sex

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

M. J. Crawford  and
T. Shaw
M. J. Crawford*
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AZ
T. Shaw
Affiliation:
Royal Free Hospital London NW3
*
∗Correspondence
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Abstract

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Despite widespread acceptance that the sexual history is an important part of psychiatric assessment, concern continues to be raised that such questions are often neglected. It has been suggested that one reason for this is the belief of staff that patients do not want to discuss sexual matters. The response of 65 out-patients to a questionnaire concerning their attitudes and expectations to being asked questions about sex is reported. The majority of patients expected there to be some inquiry about sexual matters. While detailed enquiry was not anticipated, patients stated that most questions would not make them feel uncomfortable. This study does not support the view that patients are reluctant to give a sexual history.

Type
Original papers
Information
Psychiatric Bulletin , Volume 22 , Issue 6 , June 1998 , pp. 365 - 367
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 © 1998 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

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