Open AccessAcceptability and feasibility of recruiting women to collect a self-administered vaginal swab at a pharmacy clinic for sexually transmissible infection screening
Author(s) -
Charlotte A. Gaydos,
Mathilda Barnes,
Jeffrey P. Holden,
Barbara Silver,
Raina Smith,
Justin Hardick,
Thomas C. Quinn
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
sexual health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.117
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1449-8987
pISSN - 1448-5028
DOI - 10.1071/sh20077
Subject(s) - medicine , pharmacy , chlamydia , gonorrhea , thrush , gynecology , family medicine , trichomoniasis , genital warts , obstetrics , syphilis , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , human papilloma virus , immunology , cervical cancer , cancer
Willingness to self-collect vaginal swabs at a pharmacy clinic is of interest as a venue to increase sexually transmissible infections (STIs) screening for chlamydia, gonorrhoea and trichomonas. Women self-collected vaginal swabs at the pharmacy, completed questionnaires and received STI results within 2 h. Women with STIs were offered free treatment. A total of 313 of 777 (40.3%) women consented and prevalence for any STI was 3.9%. Questionnaires demonstrated acceptability for self-collection at the pharmacy, with 63% (95% CI 57.3-68) and 32.3% (95% CI 27.4-37.8) indicating they 'strongly agreed' or 'agreed' that they felt comfortable with pharmacy collection, respectively. Self-collected vaginal swabs for STI testing for women who were at a pharmacy were feasible and acceptable to women.