Portugal was the first country to implement the WHO SHAPE questionnaire with a nationally representative sample, demonstrating its feasibility with a 30.9% overall response rate, 94% valid responses, and an average completion time of 17.7 minutes.
The WHO SHAPE questionnaire was successfully implemented in Portugal as the first nationally representative application of this tool worldwide.
The overall response rate for the SHAPE questionnaire implementation was 30.9%, with notable differences between online and telephone modalities.
94% of responses collected during the Portugal SHAPE implementation were valid.
The original SHAPE questionnaire took an average of 17.7 minutes to complete, with a difference in completion time between online and telephone formats.
The SHAPE questionnaire includes an optional Module G specifically designed to assess sexual problems, which substantially increases questionnaire completion time.
Most existing population-based sexual health studies are conducted in a limited number of Global North countries using measures that do not allow for cross-country comparison.
This research describes the first real-world, nationally representative use of a new World Health Organization (WHO) survey tool called SHAPE (Sexual Health Assessment of Practices and Experiences). Portugal was chosen as the pilot country, and the study involved 2,010 adults aged 18 to 95 who completed the questionnaire either online or by telephone between June and October 2023. The results showed that the tool worked well in practice: nearly 94% of responses were usable, and it took participants an average of only about 18 minutes to complete the core questionnaire, rising to about 29 minutes when an optional module on sexual problems was included. This research suggests that the SHAPE questionnaire is a practical and feasible way to collect sexual health data from the general population. The relatively short completion time and availability in both online and telephone formats made it accessible to a broad range of people, including older adults. The response rate of about 31% overall — much higher online (nearly 80%) than by telephone (about 12%) — provides useful information for researchers planning future studies using this tool. The broader significance of this work is that most existing sexual health surveys have been limited to wealthy, Western countries and use different measurement tools that make comparisons between countries difficult or impossible. The SHAPE questionnaire was specifically designed by the WHO to be used globally, and this Portugal study demonstrates it can work in a real-world national context. This research suggests the tool could help build a worldwide evidence base to inform policies and programs aimed at improving sexual health across diverse populations and countries.
Patrão A, Gonsalves L, Brizuela V, Nobre P. (2025). Shaping the WHO Sexual Health Assessment of Practices and Experiences questionnaire: a descriptive study on the real-world example from Portugal.. Sexual and reproductive health matters. https://doi.org/10.1080/26410397.2025.2554458