Rescreening for Gonorrhea and Chlamydial Infection Through the Mail

Abstract

Rescreening patients after treatment of Chlamydia trachomatis or Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection has had high yield but low rates of participation. The goal of this study was to determine if rescreening for gonorrhea and chlamydial infection in a largely urban sexually transmitted disease population would be more successful if individuals were given the option of submitting a specimen for testing through the mail. We conducted a randomized clinical trial involving 122 patients of whom 62 were assigned to clinic rescreening and 60 were given the option of either mailing a specimen for testing or going to a clinic for rescreening. Twenty-seven patients (45%) given the option of either rescreening in the clinic or through the mail and 20 (32%) assigned to clinic rescreening were rescreened within 28 days of enrollment in the study (odds ratio, 1.7; 95% confidence interval, 0.8-3.8). Of the 60 patients randomized to the clinic rescreening or mailing option, 11 of 18 (61%) who opted to mail in a specimen and 16 of 42 (38%) who chose clinic rescreening were rescreened within 28 days of enrollment (P = 0.10). Although not statistically significant, this study indicates that mailed rescreening could be a successful method to increase rescreening rates.