Meta-Analysis of Single-Session Behavioral Interventions to Prevent Sexually Transmitted Infections: Implications for Bundling Prevention Packages

Abstract

Context Evidence based, single-session, behavioral interventions that can be used in public health settings are urgently needed for preventing the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STI). Brief interventions are particularly promising given the relatively low burden they place on financially limited service providers. Objective To estimate the efficacy of single-session, behavioral interventions for STI prevention. Data Sources MEDLINE (PubMed), PsycINFO, CINAHL, ERIC, Proquest, all international sub-databases in the WHO's Global Health Library were searched through May 2011. Study Selection Data from 29 single-session interventions (20 studies; N = 52,465) with an STI outcome were coded and analyzed. Findings The odds of participants being infected with an STI in the intervention group were reduced by 35% (OR = .65, 95% CI=.55–.77) relative to control group participants. Interventions were compared to active controls and follow-up periods averaged 58 weeks. As such, single-session interventions lead to considerable benefit in terms of disease prevention and create minimal burden for both the patient and the provider. Conclusions Single-session interventions were most often implemented during routine health care services by clinic staff. Use of these procedures make these interventions a reasonable option for currently existing health care infrastructure. Brief and effective STI prevention interventions are a valuable tool for disease prevention and can be readily adapted to bolster the benefits of partially effective biomedical STI/HIV prevention technologies.

Retesting young STI clinic visitors with urogenitalChlamydia trachomatisinfection in the Netherlands; response to a text message reminder and reinfection rates: a prospective study with historical controls

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Adaptation and National Dissemination of a Brief, Evidence-Based, HIV Prevention Intervention for High-Risk Men Who Have Sex with Men

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What Works Well in HIV Prevention Among Spanish Young People? An Analysis of Differential Effectiveness Among Six Intervention Techniques

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