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Development of an international sexual and reproductive health survey instrument: results from a pilot WHO/HRP consultative Delphi process

Kpokiri EE 1 , Wu D 1 , Srinivas ML 2 , Anderson J 3 , Say L 4 , Kontula O 5 Show all authors , Ahmad NA 6 , Morroni C 7 , Izugbara C 8 , de Visser R 9 , Oduro GY 10 , Gitau E 11 , Welbourn A 12 , Andrasik M 13 , Norman WV 14 , Clifton S 15 , Gabster A 16 , Gesselman A 17 , Smith C 18 , Prause N 19 , Olumide A 20 , Erausquin JT 21 , Muriuki P 11 , van der Straten A 22 , Nicholson M 23 , O'Connell KA 24 , Mwoka M 11 , Bajos N 25 , Mercer CH 15 , Gonsalves LM 4 , Tucker JD 26

Affiliations 

  • 1 Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
  • 2 Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
  • 3 Infectious Diseases Division, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
  • 4 UNDP-UNFPA-UNICEF-WHO-World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland
  • 5 Population Research Institute, Family Federation of Finland, Helsinki, Finland
  • 6 Institute for Public Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Putrajaya, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
  • 7 IPH, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
  • 8 International Center for Research on Women, Washington, DC, USA
  • 9 School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton & Hove, East Sussex, UK
  • 10 Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Central, Ghana
  • 11 African Population and Health Research Center, Nairobi, Kenya
  • 12 Salamander Trust, London, UK
  • 13 Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA
  • 14 Department of Family Practice, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
  • 15 Centre for Population Research in Sexual Health and HIV, Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK
  • 16 Department of Clinical Research, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
  • 17 The Kinsey Institute, Indiana University System, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
  • 18 Adolescent and Child Health Institute, Durban, South Africa
  • 19 Liberos, Los Angeles, California, USA
  • 20 Institute of Child Health, College of Medicine, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria
  • 21 Department of Public Health Education, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
  • 22 Women's Global Health Imperative, RTI International, Berkeley, California, USA
  • 23 Marie Stopes International, London, UK
  • 24 EngenderHealth, Program Impact, Research and Evaluation, Washington, Washington DC, USA
  • 25 INSERM (Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Medicale), IRIS-EHESS, Paris, France
  • 26 Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK jdtucker@med.unc.edu
Sex Transm Infect, 2022 02;98(1):38-43.
PMID: 33846277 DOI: 10.1136/sextrans-2020-054822

Abstract

Population health surveys are rarely comprehensive in addressing sexual health, and population-representative surveys often lack standardised measures for collecting comparable data across countries. We present a sexual health survey instrument and implementation considerations for population-level sexual health research. The brief, comprehensive sexual health survey and consensus statement was developed via a multi-step process (an open call, a hackathon, and a modified Delphi process). The survey items, domains, entire instruments, and implementation considerations to develop a sexual health survey were solicited via a global crowdsourcing open call. The open call received 175 contributions from 49 countries. Following review of submissions from the open call, 18 finalists and eight facilitators with expertise in sexual health research, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), were invited to a 3-day hackathon to harmonise a survey instrument. Consensus was achieved through an iterative, modified Delphi process that included three rounds of online surveys. The entire process resulted in a 19-item consensus statement and a brief sexual health survey instrument. This is the first global consensus on a sexual and reproductive health survey instrument that can be used to generate cross-national comparative data in both high-income and LMICs. The inclusive process identified priority domains for improvement and can inform the design of sexual and reproductive health programs and contextually relevant data for comparable research across countries.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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