title: A plea for more research on access to sexual health services.
abstract: Access to sexual health services, by those at highest risk of sexually transmitted infections (STI) is critical to effective STI control. Access to services is determined by the systems that clinics use to prioritize clients. However, despite there being thousands of sexual health services world wide, only three published studies in the last 25 years have specifically assessed changes in the process of access to STI clinics in which a control period was used. These studies indicate that appointments booked in advance provide the least access for higher risk clients, whereas both triage systems and systems with a significant proportion of same day appointments improve access. It is likely, however, that many services have changed their practices and evaluation of these changes could provide valuable data to improve the efficiency and hence improve STI control.
authors.affiliation: Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, The Alfred Hospital, Carlton, Victoria 3050, Australia. cfairley@unimelb.edu.au
authors.forename: Christopher K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Fairley
authors.forename: Hennie
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Rosey
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cummings
mesh_terms: D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities / Q000458:organization & administration*; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012936:Social Medicine; D014218:Triage