Future Chlamydia Screening Preferences of Men Attending a Sexually Transmissible Infection Clinic

Asymptomatic men infected with chlamydia trachomatis are under-identified “and probably play an important role in sustaining the epidemic,” according to the authors, who wrote that the STI’s continuing high prevalence suggests “current control strategies are not sufficient.” Novel methods of actively screening such men are needed, they said.

The current formative study sought to explore the features of an STI control program that would encourage men to undergo annual testing for chlamydia. The team used semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions to study health-seeking behaviors and STI screening preferences among men.

The study’s 29 participants were recruited from a public health STI clinic. All acknowledged the expertise of clinic staff, and most stated a preference for speaking with a provider over using electronic informational resources. The clinic was specified as the preferred location for future screening, followed by self-collected home sampling with clinic drop-off. The men said they preferred to receive test results over the telephone rather than via electronic options. They also stated a preference for personalized reminders regarding future STI screening.

“In this sample, there was high interest in utilizing the expertise of STI clinic personnel and less in non-clinical options,” the authors concluded. “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.”

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