O12.6 Contact tracing vs patient-delivered partner treatment for african american heterosexual men with chlamydia. (14th July 2019) - Kissinger, Patricia
Abstract : Background: Most research on partner treatment for chlamydia has been done with female index cases or with clinic-based populations, thus less is known about optimal approaches for community screened men. The purpose of this study is to compare contact-tracing versus patient-delivered partner-treatment (PDPT) for rates of index and partner treatment among chlamydia infected-young heterosexual African American men (AA) diagnosed by screening at community venues. Methods: 'Check It' is a community chlamydia screening program for AA men aged 15–24. Initially, index and partner treatment was done by a disease intervention specialist (DIS) using a contact-tracing approach where contacted index and partners could get azithromycin treatment at no cost at participating pharmacies. In month 14 of the program, in response to the findings of in-depth interviews with men enrolled in the program, contacted index men were offered PDPT that could be picked up at a participating pharmacy or mailed to the index. Index and partner treatment outcomes were compared. Results: In-depth interviews revealed concerns about giving DIS contact partner information and issues with transportation, thus, PDPT and direct-mailing of azithromycin were added to treatment options. There were 102 screened men in the contact-tracing-phase and 22 in the PDPT-phase. Of these 124 Ct+ men, 83.9% were contacted and 62.9% were treated and they reported 204 baseline partners. Treatment rates were higher in the PDPT-phase versus the contact-tracing-phase for index (86.4% vs 57.8%, p-value<0.02) and partners (50.0% vs 20.6%, p-value<0.01) respectively. Time-to-treatment was shorter for those in the PDPT-phase versus the contact-tracing-phase for index (10.7 vs 16.8 days, p <0.04). During the PDPT-phase 8/22 index men (36.4%) opted for mail-delivery of azithromycin. Conclusion: Expedited index and PDPT using local pharmacies or mailed-treatment resulted in significantly higher index and partner treatment rates and shorter time-to-treatment among AA young men screened for Ct in the community. Disclosure: No significant relationships.