SECRET® ‐ SExual Chronicle REcording Table: Validation and reliability

Background Recording the entire sexual history of a patient from the very first sexual experiences to the current sexual habits is a challenging issue that physicians usually address with partial and non‐standardized interviews. Objectives To validate the SExual Chronicle REcording Table (SECRET®), a structured written interview, developed and copyrighted both in English and Italian languages. Materials and methods A multicenter national validation study was performed asking 300 male patients affected by uro‐andrological diseases to complete SECRET®. The structured interview is based on four sexual dimensions (masturbation, oral, vaginal and anal sex), declined in seven items (1.Have you ever performed/Do you perform; 2.At what age did you first experience; 3.How many times a month; 4.With how many partners; 5.How much did/do you enjoy; 6.How many times did/do you use a condom; 7.How many times did/do you use the pull‐out method). Data were stratified according to four stages of life (60 years old). Validity and reliability were assessed by using standard statistical methods for SECRET® validation. Results Overall, 295 patients (98.4%) filled all the questions. SECRET® showed a high level of internal coherence (Cronbach's alpha coefficient ranged from 0.85 to 0.97) and reproducibility (paired sample t‐test at Test–Retest: p > .10). Conclusions SECRET® represents a novel, simple instrument to record a patient's sexual history in daily clinical practice and clinical research. SECRET® has shown a good validity, internal consistence and reliability in different clusters of patients with uro‐andrological diseases.