Urine Tests for Gonorrhea and Chlamydia: Great Technology but Will the Community Accept It?

Abstract

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 311 respondents in seven inner-city communities within the United States in an effort to examine factors that promote regular urine-based screening for chlamydia and gonorrhea. Results suggested that the majority of respondents were in favor of the use of urine-based testing for the detection of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), indicating that regular urine testing is important for diagnosis, early detection, prevention, and treatment of STIs. The most common concerns reported were stigma associated with STIs, the time required for testing, the possibility of receiving inaccurate laboratory results, and the higher cost of urine testing. The ease and accuracy of urine testing in addition to its high acceptance suggest that screening programs for STIs using urine-based testing could be implemented and used quite effectively to control the transmission of STIs.