A Randomized Controlled Trial for Reducing Risks for Sexually Transmitted Infections Through Enhanced Patient-Based Partner Notification

Abstract

This patient-based sexual partner notification program can help reduce risks for subsequent STIs among urban, minority patients presenting for care at STI clinics.

Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of traditional and new partner notification technologies for curable sexually transmitted infections: observational study, systematic reviews and mathematical modelling

“…18 The numbers of partners treated per index case randomised varied across trials and interventions ( Table 7). This outcome was not reported in four 17,18,52,53 of the nine trials. The median was 0.57 partners per index case (range 0.28-1.14).…”

“…44 Twenty-one randomised controlled trials [16][17][18][19][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65] reported on eight comparisons of a method of enhanced patient referral compared with an alternative technology in patients with curable STIs ( Table 6). The updated search (5 January 2011 to 29 January 2012) identified 15 of these trials (9393 participants) [16][17][18][19][51][52][53][54][55][56][57]59,61,64,65 and six (5331 participants) 50,58,60,62,63 were included in the original review. Most trials (12) were conducted in the USA, 16,17,[50][51][52]…”

“…The updated search (5 January 2011 to 29 January 2012) identified 15 of these trials (9393 participants) [16][17][18][19][51][52][53][54][55][56][57]59,61,64,65 and six (5331 participants) 50,58,60,62,63 were included in the original review. Most trials (12) were conducted in the USA, 16,17,[50][51][52][53][54]56,58,[60][61][62] three were done in the UK, 19,55,64 two in Denmark, 63,65 and one each in Australia, 18 South Africa, 50 Uganda 57 and Zimbabwe. 59 There were no randomised controlled trials that evaluated the new UK partner notification technology of APT and no trials with reinfection as an outcome for syphilis, PID or for any STIs in men who have sex with men.…”

“…29 The results reported in the rest of this section are restricted to nine randomised controlled trials in which reinfection of the index case was either a primary or a secondary outcome. [16][17][18][19][51][52][53][54][55] Intermediate outcomes in these trials, including the number of partners treated, are also reported.…”

“…[16][17][18][19] A health-care professional (the provider) can notify partners if the index patient does not want to or cannot do it him or herself. In practice, contract referral is often not seen as a separate method but as an extension of patient referral (if partners have not been notified by the time that a follow-up visit occurs), or APT, accelerated partner therapy; EPT, expedited partner therapy.…”