Recording sexual behavior: comparison of recall questionnaires with a coital diary.

ABSTRACT

PIP: This study aimed to compare data obtained from coital diaries (CD) with those collected using weekly recall (WR) and daily recall (DR) questionnaires. 79 female sex workers aged 18-44 coming from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, were studied. They were followed up every month with clinical examination and treatment of STDs, provision of condoms, and CD collection. There were 52 WR, 27 DR, and 79 CD records collected from the participants. Results showed that CD records showed a significantly greater mean number of clients compared to the questionnaires (23.3 vs. 13.6, P 0.001), number of condoms used (2.7 vs. 0.5, P 0.001), vaginal acts (6.8 vs. 2.9, P 0.001), and anal acts (1.9 vs. 0.7, P = 0.044). Daily accounts of weekly sexual activity showed significant differences in 1) the number of days worked (6.2 vs. 5.2, P = 0.009), 2) the number of clients (21.7 vs. 17.4, P = 0.027), and 3) the number of anal acts with clients (3.9 vs. 0.8, P = 0.004), with higher means reported in the CD records for all cases. The CD records are an important instrument for gathering preliminary sexual behavioral information; however, their use is limited to long-term data collection. Therefore, a comprehensive recall questionnaire is recommended for future trials.