Fisher, M;
Wayal, S;
Smith, H;
Llewellyn, C;
Alexander, S;
Ison, C;
Parry, JV;
... Wayal, S; + view all
(2015)
Home sampling for sexually transmitted infections and HIV in men who have sex with men: A prospective observational study.
PLoS ONE
, 10
(4)
10.1371/journal.pone.0120810.
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Abstract
To determine uptake of home sampling kit (HSK) for STI/HIV compared to clinic-based testing, whether the availability of HSK would increase STI testing rates amongst HIV infected MSM, and those attending a community-based HIV testing clinic compared to historical control. Prospective observational study in three facilities providing STI/HIV testing services in Brighton, UK was conducted. Adult MSM attending/contacting a GUM clinic requesting an STI screen (group 1), HIV infectedMSM attending routine outpatient clinic (group 2), and MSM attending a community-based rapid HIV testing service (group 3) were eligible. Participants were required to have no symptomatology consistent with STI and known to be immune to hepatitis A and B (group 1). Eligiblemen were offered a HSK to obtain self-collected specimens as an alternative to routine testing. HSK uptake compared to conventional clinicbased STI/HIV testing in group 1, increase in STI testing rates due to availability of HSK compared to historical controls in group 2 and 3, and HSK return rates in all settings were calculated. Among the 128 eligible men in group 1, HSK acceptance was higher (62.5% (95%CI: 53.5-70.9)) compared to GUM clinic-based testing (37.5% (95% CI: 29.1-46.5)), (p = 0.0004). Two thirds of eligibleMSM offered an HSK in all three groups accepted it, but HSK return rates varied (highest in group 1, 77.5%, lowest in group 3, 16%). HSK for HIV testing was acceptable to 81%of men in group 1. Compared to historical controls, availability of HSK increased the proportion ofMSM testing for STIs in group 2 but not in group 3. HSK for STI/ HIV offers an alternative to conventional clinic-based testing for MSM seeking STI screening. It significantly increases STI testing uptake in HIV infected MSM. HSK could be considered as an adjunct to clinic-based services to further improve STI/HIV testing in MSM.
Type: | Article |
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Title: | Home sampling for sexually transmitted infections and HIV in men who have sex with men: A prospective observational study |
Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0120810 |
Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0120810 |
Language: | English |
Additional information: | © 2015 Fisher et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited |
UCL classification: | UCL 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 > Institute for Global Health |
URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1470830 |
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