Examining Clinician Attitudes on Sexual Health Assessment After an Educational Intervention

Abstract

It is estimated that 43% of women suffer from sexual dysfunction. Women expect their providers to evaluate their sexual health, yet most clinicians do not because they feel they do not have the time, training, or knowledge of sexual health. This discrepancy leaves many women with unaddressed health concerns. The purpose of the study was to 1) examine clinician attitudes before and after watching an evidence-based educational video 2) examine the impact of each of the six educational domains individually and to 3) assess the correlation between the participants quality rating of each domain in the video and impact the on participants’ attitudes. A recruitment email was sent to one primary care practice and two ob/gyn practices in the Washington, D.C. area. Participants were asked to forward the survey to appropriate colleagues to widen and diversify the sample. Participants completed a 12 question pre-survey. A majority then watched a 15 minute evidence-based educational video about women’s sexual health that included the following domains: how to ask and evaluate sexual health, how to address concerns, what a sexual medicine specialist/pelvic floor physical therapist/sexuality mental health professional does, and how to find them and available resources (organizations, websites, and continuing education). After watching the video, participants took a 17 question post-survey. Before and after t-scores demonstrated a significant improvement in provider willingness to evaluate sexual health. Each domain of the video made a positive impact. 93-98% of participants “somewhat agreed” to “strongly agreed” that each domain made them more likely to evaluate their patient’s sexual health. The higher a respondent rated a domain, the more likely they were to believe they were more likely to evaluate their patients’ sexual health, as demonstrated by a correlation coefficient of 0.6 to 0.7. Participants who finished both the pre-survey and post-survey rated themselves lower on screening behaviors in the pre-survey, demonstrating the significant impact of the video. An evidence-based educational video containing basics of evaluation of women’s sexual health and available resources led to improved provider belief that they would evaluate women’s sexual health, thus addressing more women’s sexual health and possible dysfunction.