Psychosocial & Demographic Sexual Health Survey v1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Developing a Psychosocial And Demographic Clinical Assessment Tool (PADCAT)of women's sexual health to target contraception advice and supply (CAS) and sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing to women of reproductive age in primary care settings.
IRAS ID
196484
Contact name
Natalie Edelman
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Sussex, BSMS
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 28 days
Research summary
Many GP surgeries now offer contraception, and also testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Working out who would benefit from these is important, especially as women may not want to discuss their sex lives with their doctor, and doing so can also be time-consuming. ‘Psychosocial factors’ such as early life experiences or binge drinking may be more common among women experiencing sexual risk, so asking about these issues - in a quiz- might be an alternative way of identifying if a woman would benefit from STI testing or contraception.
To investigate this we are running a survey, open to women aged 16-44 attending GP surgeries in Brighton & Hove from April 2016 to the end of March 2017. Women will be invited to complete a short questionnaire (taking 5-10 minutes) asking them some psychosocial questions and also some questions about their sexual experiences. They will complete this in the waiting room without disclosing their name and seal it in an envelope before handing it in. The answers from 2000 women will be analysed by researchers at Brighton & Sussex Medical School to work out which psychosocial questions are most acceptable to patients and most useful at identifying women who would benefit from contraception or STI testing. The most useful questions will then be used to create a quiz that women can complete in GP surgeries.
To make sure that women are happy to take part in this survey, and find it a positive and unharmful experience, we have spoken to 19 women aged between 16-44 years, on three separate occasions. They have advised on the study design and reviewed the questionnaire, information sheet and poster, and their ideas have been included.
REC name
London - Brighton & Sussex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/0206
Date of REC Opinion
11 Feb 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion