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Completed

NCT Number: NCT00112255

Partner Notification for Chlamydia in Primary Care

The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of partner notification by general practice nurses with referral to a specialist clinic for people with genital chlamydia diagnosed in a community setting. We hypothesised that referral to a specialist would be more effective in ensuring treatment of the sexual partners of infected people than the simpler nurse-led strategy.

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Key information

Conditions

Chlamydia Infections Bacterial Infections Bacterial Infections and Mycoses Chlamydiaceae Infections Communicable Diseases Genital Diseases Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections Infections Sexually Transmitted Diseases Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Bacterial Urogenital Diseases

Age range

16 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Phase 3

Primary location

Chlamydia Screening Studies (ClaSS) project general practices, Bristol, Avon, United Kingdom

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About this study

Partner notification (contact tracing) is essential to the control of sexually transmitted infections. Reports of new chlamydia infections have increased by 66% in the past five years. A National Chlamydia Screening Programme in England, and increasing primary care provision of sexual health care are part of the United Kingdom Government's strategy for tackling increasing rates of sexually transmitted infections. New strategies for managing chlamydia in non-specialist settings are urgently required: genitourinary medicine clinics are failing to cope with their increasing workload; and 45% of cases detected in the chlamydia screening pilot studies were diagnosed in general practice.

Partner notification involves informing the sexual partners of someone with a sexually transmitted infection of the possibility of exposure, offering them diagnosis and treatment, and providing advice about preventing future infection. In the United Kingdom, this is usually done by specialist sexual health advisers in departments of genitourinary medicine. The effectiveness of partner notification in non-specialist settings in developed countries is not known. We conducted a randomised controlled trial to compare the effectiveness of practice nurse-led partner notification with referral to a genitourinary clinic for partner notification conducted by a specialist health adviser, and to compare the resources used by each strategy.

Comparisons: Partner notification at the time of receiving diagnosis and treatment by general practice nurses who received a one-day training course and ongoing support by telephone calls or visits from a specialist adviser in sexual health, compared with referral to a genitourinary medicine clinic for partner notification by a specialist adviser in sexual health.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Chlamydia trachomatis diagnosed through a population-based screening study
  • Chlamydia test result received at patient's general practice
  • Chlamydia cases diagnosed in general practice

Exclusion criteria

  • None

Treatment and study plan

Practice nurse-led partner notification

Behavioral

Referral to specialist genitourinary clinic

Behavioral

Primary outcomes

  1. Percentage of index cases with at least one sexual partner treated

  2. Number of sexual partners per index case treated

Secondary outcomes

  1. Number of sexual partners per index case elicited during sexual history taking

  2. Positive chlamydia test result six weeks after treatment

  3. Adherence to advice to abstain from sexual intercourse until both partners completed treatment

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Bristol

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Partner Notification for Chlamydia in Primary Care: Randomised Controlled Trial and Economic Evaluation

Important dates

Study start
2001
Study completion
2002
First posted
Jun 1, 2005
Registry last updated
Jan 17, 2018

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

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This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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