Is Accelerated Partner Therapy partner notification for sexually transmissible infections acceptable and feasible in general practice?

Abstract

GP and practice nurses welcome new strategies for partner notification and believe APT could provide rapid and convenient treatment of sex partners in general practice. This supports further evaluation of APT models as a partner notification strategy in primary care.

The Ballseye programme: a mixed-methods programme of research in traditional sexual health and alternative community settings to improve the sexual health of men in the UK

“…Effective partner notification in primary care is recognised as difficult to achieve 97,99 but the importance of improving the effectiveness of partner notification as a strategy for improving population control of C. trachomatis is well recognised. It is increasingly recognised that partner notification outcomes should be measured per partner, rather than per index patient, 105 as this reflects the true potential for the prevention of further transmission.…”

“…95 Successful control of chlamydia will need effective methods of partner notification, irrespective of the setting in which the infection is diagnosed. Partner notification is known to be problematic in primary care 68,97 but has been shown to be achievable in the context of a chlamydia screening trial. 98 Barriers to effective partner notification include lack of knowledge/skills, lack of time and organisational issues (e.g.…”

“…partner is not patient of index practice). 99 Although GPs appear to be broadly supportive of APT methods of partner notification, 97 this type of intervention may not directly translate to primary care settings in which staff may have fewer specific sexual health skills and service users may be different from those attending specialist services.…”

Partner management for sexually transmissible infections: better options and guidelines please

“…8,9 Research suggests that more guidance, resources and support for both practitioners and their patients would improve the outcomes from partner notification. 3,7,9 In this issue of Sexual Health, Shackleton et al 10 investigate the acceptability among clinicians working in London general practice of innovative measures aimed at improving the notification and management of partners of patients diagnosed with STIs. The novelty of their intervention is to be commended.…”

“…The model of accelerated partner therapy put forward by Shackleton et al 10 would go some way towards alleviating some of these concerns as partners would be assessed directly by a health professional, although without a physical examination, which would for example be required to exclude pelvic inflammatory disease. As such an approach requires additional resources, the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of this model are of interest.…”