Willingness of young men and women to be tested for Chlamydia trachomatis in three non-medical settings in Glasgow, UK.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the willingness of young men and women to be tested for Chlamydia trachomatis in three non-medical settings.


METHODS
Men and women aged between 16 and 24 years were invited to complete a self-administered questionnaire and provide a urine sample in non-medical settings: 'education' (one further education college), 'health and fitness' (three local authority leisure centres) and 'workplace' (two call centres).


RESULTS
Eighty-four percent of age-eligible users approached in the settings agreed to complete a questionnaire (n = 363). Among the sexually active people (n = 346), the uptake of screening varied by setting [education 19.1% (22/115), health and fitness 48.8% (62/127), workplace 27.8% (29/104); p<0.001]. Health and fitness settings (OR 4.08; 95% CI 2.04-8.14) and perception of being at risk of having chlamydia (OR 2.47; 95% CI 1.33-4.58) were strong predictors of providing a urine sample. Adjusting for setting and age group (<20 years vs 20+ years), women were less likely than men to provide a urine sample (OR 0.42; 95% CI 0.26-0.70). All five positive cases (4.4%; 4.9% in men, 3.8% in women) were contacted with their results by a health adviser and invited to be treated at a local genitourinary medicine clinic.


CONCLUSIONS
Men were more willing than women to be tested for C. trachomatis in these non-medical settings, but uptake varied by setting. Thus, increasing opportunities for the take-up of testing in particular non-medical settings might be a more effective approach to including young men who are not reached by clinic control efforts.
Lorimer
Karen
K
MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, 4 Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow G12 8RZ, UK. karen@sphsu.mrc.ac.uk
Reid
Margaret E
ME
Hart
Graham J
GJ
D000293:Adolescent; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012606:Scotland; D012737:Sex Factors; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult