Effect of Expedited Treatment of Sex Partners on Recurrent or Persistent Gonorrhea or Chlamydial Infection

Abstract

Expedited treatment of sex partners reduces the rates of persistent or recurrent gonorrhea or chlamydial infection.

Predictors of Partner Notification for C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae: An Examination of Social Cognitive and Psychological Factors

“…This is particularly important given recent attention to the issue of partner-delivered, or Bexpedited^, treatment for chlamydia and gonorrhea. [23][24][25] Policy and guidelines surrounding patient-delivered medication need to account for partner notification behaviors as a necessary but not sufficient condition for partner treatment and develop programs that will maximize the likelihood that sexual contacts are treated, receive counseling, and ideally present for medical care.…”

Evaluation of a Population-Based Program of Expedited Partner Therapy for Gonorrhea and Chlamydial Infection

“…We cannot be certain that the increased use of PDPT and the other benefits that we observed were direct consequences of our intervention. However, we observed no change in the use of PDPT among providers in King County between 1998 and 2004, 3,11 suggesting that a trend toward increased use was not ongoing before institution of our program. Also, our findings regarding the proportion of cases receiving PDPT from providers and the proportion of cases with untreated partners represent estimates.…”

“…To assess trends in clinicians' use of PDPT, we compared the proportion of cases in the sample that received PDPT from their diagnosing clinician with the reported use of PDPT in a convenience sample of 5219 persons reported to PHSKC with gonorrhea or chlamydial infection between 1998 and 2003. The 1998 -2003 sample was interviewed as part of a randomized controlled trial 11,14 and reflects clinicians' use of PDPT before the trial intervention.…”

“…We regarded a partner as treated if (s)he met any of the following criteria: (1) index case reported that the partner was treated; (2) PHSKC prescribed PDPT for the partner and the index patient received a partner packet and reported giving it to the partner; (3) staff directly spoke to the partner who stated (s)he had been treated or had received a partner packet; or (4) PHSKC prescribed PDPT for the partner, the index patient retrieved a partner packet from a pharmacy, and the index patient did not meet our criteria for reinterview. In a previous study, 11 we found that 224 (96%) of 234 persons meeting these criteria reported that they were certain their partner was treated [unpublished data]. We classified partner(s) who did meet these criteria as untreated.…”

“…8 -13 Starting in 1998, our health department initiated a program using EPT as part of a randomized controlled trial. 11,14 The results of that trial, our experience with EPT, and the need to improve the efficiency and scope of our public health partner notification efforts prompted us to develop a new, population-based partner notification program. In this paper, we describe and evaluate that program.…”