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Talk to your health care provider if you think PrEP may be right for you. PrEP can be prescribed only by a health care provider.
Before beginning PrEP, you must test negative for HIV.
Identifying Indications For PrEP.
Routinely taking a sexual history is a necessary first step to identify which patients in a clinical practice are having sex with same-sex partners, which are having sex with partners, and what specific sexual behaviors may place them at risk for, or protect them from, HIV acquisition.
The 5 P’s: A Guide to Taking a Sexual History
The 5 P’s: Partners, Practices, Prevention of Pregnancy, Protection from STDs, and Past History of STDs may be a useful way to help you remember the major aspects of a sexual history.
1. Partners
“Do you have sex with men, women, or both?”
“In the past 2 months, how many partners have you had sex with?”
“In the past 12 months, how many partners have you had sex with?”
“Is it possible that any of your sex partners in the past 12 months had sex with someone else while they were still in a sexual relationship with you?”
2. Practices
“To understand your risks for STDs, I need to understand the kind of sex you have had recently.”
“Have you had vaginal sex, meaning ‘penis in vagina sex’?” If yes, “Do you use condoms: never, sometimes, or always?”
“Have you had anal sex, meaning ‘penis in rectum/anus sex’?” If yes, “Do you use condoms: never, sometimes, or always?”
“Have you had oral sex, meaning ‘mouth on penis/vagina’?”
For condom answers:
If “never”: “Why don’t you use condoms?”
If “sometimes”: “In what situations (or with whom) do you use condoms?”
3. Prevention of pregnancy
“What are you doing to prevent pregnancy?”
4. Protection from STDs
“What do you do to protect yourself from STDs and HIV?”
5. Past history of STDs
“Have you ever had an STD?”
“Have any of your partners had an STD?”
Additional questions to identify HIV and viral hepatitis risk include:
“Have you or any of your partners ever injected drugs?”
“Have you or any of your partners exchanged money or drugs for sex?”
“Is there anything else about your sexual practices that I need to know?”