Risk Assessment

Understanding a person’s risk for acquiring STIs or HIV can help guide appropriate counseling, testing, and treatment. 

A risk assessment should be conducted for each individual person, and providers should not make assumptions about an individual’s risk based on demographic factors alone. Risk assessment involves taking a comprehensive medical history, including a sexual history that covers the six Ps (partners, practices, protection, past history of STIs, pregnancy preferences and pleasure). (See guidance on taking a sexual history in Section 4, "Determining an Individual’s Need and Desire for Services.")

Remaining aware of STI prevalence and trends in the populations and geographic areas they serve can help providers deliver appropriate care. This information can help a provider assess an individual’s risk of HIV and STI acquisition when combined with demographic information and behavioral factors. The reported incidence of STIs in each state is available in the CDC’s STI Surveillance Report, produced annually.113 Providers can use the NCHHSTP AtlasPlus tool on the CDC website to search for stateand county-level STI data and generate tables, maps, and charts showing local STI prevalence.114