Roth Alexis, Van Der Pol Barbara, Dodge Brian, Fortenberry J Dennis, Zimet Gregory
Departments of Pediatrics and Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, 410 W. 10th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
Sex Health. 2011 Sep;8(3):419-26. doi: 10.1071/SH10017.
Despite years of public health efforts, Chlamydia trachomatis remains a highly prevalent disease suggesting that current control strategies are not sufficient. Asymptomatic men with chlamydial infections are under-identified and probably play an important role in sustaining the epidemic. Novel methods of actively screening asymptomatic men are needed to reduce the prevalence of chlamydia. This formative study explored the features of a sexually transmissible infection (STI) control program that would encourage annual testing among men.
Using semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions, we explored issues related to health seeking behaviours and preferences for STI screening among men recruited from a public health STI clinic.
All 29 participants acknowledged the expertise of clinic staff and most men preferred speaking with a provider over using electronic informational resources. The clinic was the preferred venue for future screening, followed by self-collected home sampling with clinic drop-off. Men expressed a preference for receiving results via the telephone rather than electronic options, and preferred personalised reminders for future STI screening.
In this sample, there was high interest in utilising the expertise of STI clinic personnel and less in non-clinical options. While this may be due to recruiting from an STI clinic, the data serves as a reminder that service provision must be responsive to the needs of potential users. Our findings suggest that future non-clinic based screening strategies may require an initial educational component to address concerns about confidentiality and sample quality in order to be acceptable.
尽管多年来开展了公共卫生工作，但沙眼衣原体仍然是一种高度流行的疾病，这表明当前的控制策略并不充分。衣原体感染的无症状男性未得到充分识别，可能在维持疫情传播方面发挥重要作用。需要新的方法来积极筛查无症状男性，以降低衣原体的流行率。这项形成性研究探讨了一项性传播感染（STI）控制项目的特点，该项目将鼓励男性进行年度检测。
通过半结构化访谈和焦点小组讨论，我们探讨了从公共卫生性传播感染诊所招募的男性的就医行为以及对性传播感染筛查的偏好等相关问题。
所有29名参与者都认可诊所工作人员的专业知识，并且大多数男性更倾向于与医护人员交流，而不是使用电子信息资源。诊所是未来筛查的首选场所，其次是自行采集样本并送到诊所。男性表示更倾向于通过电话而非电子方式接收检测结果，并且希望收到未来性传播感染筛查的个性化提醒。
在这个样本中，人们对利用性传播感染诊所人员的专业知识兴趣浓厚，而对非临床选项兴趣较低。虽然这可能是由于从性传播感染诊所招募参与者所致，但这些数据提醒我们，服务提供必须响应潜在用户的需求。我们的研究结果表明，未来基于非诊所的筛查策略可能需要一个初始教育环节，以解决对保密性和样本质量的担忧，从而使其能够被接受。
