Tan Wei Sheng, Chen Marcus, Ivan Mihaela, Stone Kristine, Rane Vinita, Fairley Christopher K, Ong Jason J
From the *National Skin Centre, Singapore, †Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, Alfred Health, Carlton; ‡Central Clinical School, Monash University, Clayton; and §Department of Health and Human Services, Victoria, Australia.
Sex Transm Dis. 2016 Nov;43(11):685-689. doi: 10.1097/OLQ.0000000000000512.
We examined the extent of partner notification for men who have sex with men (MSM) who were diagnosed with syphilis, and offered referral to a partner notification officer (PNO), to assist them with informing recent sexual partners.
Between October 2013 and March 2015, MSM diagnosed with syphilis at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre were routinely offered a referral to a PNO. The outcomes of this intervention were evaluated including the proportion of men who accepted PNO services and the number of sexual partners informed by the PNO.
There were 380 MSM diagnosed with syphilis. Those with primary or secondary syphilis reported a total of 813 partners over 3 months and those with early latent syphilis reported a total of 1400 partners over 12 months. Sixty nine percent of index men (n = 262) had documented discussion of partner notification, 34% (n = 128) accepted PNO referral, and 28% (n = 105) were contacted by the PNO, 58 of whom reported they had already notified partners themselves. Only 14 index men (4%) provided the PNO with contact details for 28 partners, 25 of whom were notified by the PNO. Among those interviewed, the most common barrier to partner notification was the presence of anonymous partners and absence of contact details for partners.
Despite offering an effective PNO service in our centre, ultimately only 4% of MSM with syphilis had at least 1 partner notified by the PNO with patients declining the PNO service and anonymous partners posing the major barriers. Alternative patient initiated methods for improving partner notification for syphilis among MSM using newer communication technologies are required.
我们调查了被诊断为梅毒的男男性行为者（MSM）的性伴通知情况，并为他们转介给性伴通知官员（PNO），以协助他们告知近期的性伴侣。
2013年10月至2015年3月期间，在墨尔本性健康中心被诊断为梅毒的MSM被常规转介给PNO。对这一干预措施的结果进行了评估，包括接受PNO服务的男性比例以及PNO通知的性伴侣数量。
共有380名MSM被诊断为梅毒。患有一期或二期梅毒的人在3个月内报告了总共813个性伴侣，患有早期潜伏梅毒的人在12个月内报告了总共1400个性伴侣。69%的索引病例男性（n = 262）有关于性伴通知的记录讨论，34%（n = 128）接受了PNO转介，28%（n = 105）被PNO联系，其中58人报告他们自己已经通知了性伴侣。只有14名索引病例男性（4%）向PNO提供了28名性伴侣的联系方式，其中25人被PNO通知。在接受采访的人中，性伴通知最常见的障碍是存在匿名性伴侣以及缺乏性伴侣的联系方式。
尽管我们中心提供了有效的PNO服务，但最终只有4%的梅毒MSM至少有1名性伴侣被PNO通知，患者拒绝PNO服务以及匿名性伴侣构成了主要障碍。需要采用患者发起的替代方法，利用更新的通信技术改善MSM中梅毒的性伴通知情况。
