People prefer being told of partner's STI directly

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People would rather hear directly from a sexual partner if he or she has contracted a sexually transmitted infection (STI), rather than having a health care provider break the news, a new study shows.

And if health professionals were contacting them, patients generally said they would prefer a letter, e-mail or text message asking them to contact the clinic, according to the report in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections.

Dr. Ade Apoola of Derbyshire Royal Infirmary in Derby, UK, and colleagues note that partner notification has been shown to be an effective way to identify new STIs. To investigate the best approach for patient notification, Apoola's team surveyed 2,544 patients attending three different UK sexual health clinics, asking them whether they felt several different methods of notification were "good" or "bad."

The researchers also asked people if they had access to certain types of communication tools, such as mobile phones, E-mail, and text messaging, and how they would feel about these approaches being used to notify partners.

Nearly two-thirds said they thought being informed of a partner's STI directly by their partner was a "good" method. Forty-nine percent said getting a letter asking them to contact the clinic was a good method.

Other approaches were not well received by as many respondents. For example, getting a phone call from a clinic directly informing them of a partner's STI was rated good by 40% of participants, and 34% said receiving a letter with the news was a good method.

The strategy rated worst was receiving an E-mail notifying them that they might have an STI, which 67 % called a "bad" method, followed by a text message on a mobile phone, which 61% considered bad. However, the researchers found, patients who had access to a particular type of communication were more likely to rate them as a good way to receive the news.

"Services should be flexible enough to utilize the patients' preferred method of partner notification," the investigators conclude.

SOURCE: Sexually Transmitted Infections, August 2006.