BACKGROUND
Increase of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) as well as increased use of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) among young people in Catalonia triggers the idea of designing a mobile phone application to promote partner notification (PN).
OBJECTIVE
Assess the impact of a web based tool adapted to mobile phones for partner notification of STI among youngsters 16 to 24 years old and evaluate its role in increasing the “patient referral” partner notification.
METHODS
This is a multicentre randomised controlled trial with a proportional stratification of the sample by centre and random allocation of participants to the three groups of the study: game intervention (GIG), direct web intervention (DWIG) and control (CG). It was conducted by midwives, gynaecologists and physicians in the sexual and reproductive areas of the primary health care centres.
The study population was: 1- All youngsters 16 to 24 years old diagnosed with one of the three curable STIs, (syphilis, gonococcus and chlamydia). 2- All partners of those diagnosed with the previous STIs, independently of their state of infection. Primary outcome was the ratio of partners notified per index case. Secondary outcomes included media used to notify and progress through the web app.
RESULTS
There were 366 index cases. Most of them were girls (91.9%), heterosexual (91.6%) with Pre-University studies (40%) and chlamydia infection as main diagnosis (92.3%) and a median age of 20 (interquartile range, IQR 18-23). The ratio of partners notified per index case was higher among GIG (1.7) and DWIG (1.6), than CG (1.2) group although no significant differences were found between the three groups.
CONCLUSIONS
The “Notijoves” web app may have a positive impact in the partner notification practice among youngsters.
CLINICALTRIAL
ClinicalTrials.gov.Identifier:NCT03986567; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03986567