Researchers conducted this study to measure agreement between the client’s and the clinician’s responses to questions regarding client history as answered on a questionnaire based on the UKMEC for CHC.
Clients aged 18 years and over, attending a contraceptive clinic requesting a repeat supply of CHC, completed a history questionnaire and an evaluation form. Clinicians then met their copy of the same questionnaire during the consultation.
Data from 328 pairs were analyzed. The agreement was above 93% for all identified risk factors. There was a complete agreement for thrombosis, diabetes, stroke, cancer, and liver problems. The least agreement was noted in the recording of migraine and abnormal bleeding. For all risk factors except smoking, the proportion of clients reporting a risk factor was more than the balance of clinicians reporting a risk factor. None of them would have been wrongly prescribed the CHC based just on their self-completed questionnaires. Most women were happy with this method of history taking.
The study concluded that a self-completed history questionnaire is acceptable to women and can replace traditional routine medical history taking for continuing CHC. Women completed the questionnaire with a high degree of reliability.
Reference: https://srh.bmj.com/content/34/1/51
