Diagnosis of Urogenital Chlamydia trachomatis Infections by Home-obtained, Mailed Samples: Do we Need a Telephone Hotline for Information and Advice?

Abstract

This study evaluates the use of dedicated telephone hotlines to provide advice to young individuals who were offered the chance to be tested for Chlamydia trachomatis by means of home-obtained samples that were mailed directly to a testing laboratory. In a school-based screening study, a population-based screening study and a partner-tracing study we established hotlines and registered the calls. The target groups for the 3 studies comprised 8,909, 9,000 and 4,622 individuals and 0.1% (8/8,909), 0.7% (66/9,000) and 2.7% (124/4,622) of the populations, respectively took the opportunity to call anonymously to receive advice. The number of calls per opening hour of the hotlines varied between 0.2 (8 calls/40 opening hours) and 0.4 (124 calls/300 opening hours). Major reasons for calling the hotlines included requests for more information about chlamydial infections, questions relating to the study and emotional concerns (e.g. problems relating to partner tracing, adultery or anxiety concerning infertility). Although only a small fraction of the target populations used the hotlines we conclude that there is a need for advice and counseling in connection with strategies involving home-obtained samples for C. trachomatis testing. The optimal setting for this, however, remains to be determined.