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Pathways to, and use of, sexual healthcare among Black Caribbean sexual health clinic attendees in England: evidence from cross-sectional bio-behavioural surveys

Aicken, CRH; Wayal, S; Blomquist, PB; Fabiane, SM; Gerressu, M; Hughes, G; Mercer, CH; (2019) Pathways to, and use of, sexual healthcare among Black Caribbean sexual health clinic attendees in England: evidence from cross-sectional bio-behavioural surveys. BMC Health Services Research , 19 (1) , Article 668. 10.1186/s12913-019-4396-3. Green open access

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Abstract

Background In England, people of Black Caribbean (BC) ethnicity are disproportionately affected by sexually transmitted infections (STI). We examined whether differences in sexual healthcare behaviours contribute to these inequalities. Methods We purposively selected 16 sexual health clinics across England with high proportions of attendees of BC ethnicity. During May–September 2016, attendees at these clinics (of all ethnicities) completed an online survey that collected data on health service use and sexual behaviour. We individually linked these data to routinely-collected surveillance data. We then used multivariable logistic regression to compare reported behaviours among BC and White British/Irish (WBI) attendees (n = 627, n = 1411 respectively) separately for women and men, and to make comparisons by gender within these ethnic groups. Results BC women’s sexual health clinic attendances were more commonly related to recent bacterial STI diagnoses, compared to WBI women’s attendances (adjusted odds ratio, AOR 3.54, 95% CI 1.45–8.64, p = 0.009; no gender difference among BC attendees), while BC men were more likely than WBI men (and BC women) to report attending because of a partner’s symptoms or diagnosis (AOR 1.82, 95% CI 1.14–2.90; AOR BC men compared with BC women: 4.36, 95% CI 1.42–13.34, p = 0.014). Among symptomatic attendees, BC women were less likely than WBI women to report care-seeking elsewhere before attending the sexual health clinic (AOR 0.60, 95% CI 0.38–0.97, p = 0.039). No ethnic differences, or gender differences among BC attendees, were observed in symptom duration, or reporting sex whilst symptomatic. Among those reporting previous diagnoses with or treatment for bacterial STI, no differences were observed in partner notification. Conclusions Differences in STI diagnosis rates observed between BC and WBI ethnic groups were not explained by the few ethnic differences which we identified in sexual healthcare-seeking and use. As changes take place in service delivery, prompt clinic access must be maintained – and indeed facilitated – for those at greatest risk of STI, regardless of ethnicity.

Type: Article
Title: Pathways to, and use of, sexual healthcare among Black Caribbean sexual health clinic attendees in England: evidence from cross-sectional bio-behavioural surveys
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1186/s12913-019-4396-3
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-019-4396-3
Language: English
Additional information: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Culture, Communication and Media
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Inst of Clinical Trials and Methodology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Inst of Clinical Trials and Methodology > MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health > Infection and Population Health
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10082082
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