P-15 Physician Barriers to Obtaining the Sexual Health History of Patients in The Bahamas

Methods: A cross-sectional quantitative study was conducted on physicians practicing at public and private institutions in New Providence, The Bahamas from General Practice, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Obstetrics & Gynecology specialties using an anonymous, self-administered 13-item questionnaire. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS.

Results: A total of 181 physicians participated with 97 (53.9%) of physicians reported taking a sexual health history as “if relevant to the chief complaint”, with a strong relationship between medical specialty and frequency (Cramer’s V = 0.355, p<0.001). The median response for the 5Ps was “often” for most questions except for 5 questions involving sexual partners, sexual practices, past history of STIs, and prevention of pregnancy, where the median response was “sometimes”. Professional barriers were reported as lack of time (41.9%), lack of space/privacy (54.2%), and lack of psychosexual counselling (31.1%), with a strong relationship between medical specialty (p = 0.024, p <0.001, and p = 0.004, respectively). One common personal barrier was reported as sex being a “sensitive subject” in 37 (20.4%) of physicians. The median comfort level with the Transgender patient group was “neutral” and for all other patient groups the median comfort level was “comfortable”.

Conclusion: A sexual health history should be done annually, and incorporation of a standardized form can be used at public and private institutions. Further studies are needed to assess responses from physicians practicing on all islands of The Bahamas.