Screening and the Construction of Scepticism: The Case of Chlamydia

Abstract

Screening for disease is an integral component of UK preventative health policy, and there are proposals to introduce a screening programme for the sexually transmitted infection Chlamydia trachomatis. In recent years, however, debates over screening have been characterized by increasing scepticism about the individual benefits of participating in such initiatives. This article explores factors that may contribute to this scepticism, in the context of a study that investigated the experience of women who had been diagnosed with chlamydia. We employ Bury’s concept of ‘risk to meanings’ to understand better the social process of the development of uncertainty in relation to a positive diagnosis. Three themes related to uncertainty and the ‘risk to meaning’ are explored here – the threat to self-image, disclosing diagnosis and anxiety about future health status. The implications for the proposed UK chlamydia screening programme are discussed, and the article suggests that the development and construction of scepticism occurs in the space between expectations stimulated by public health discourses of screening and the lived experience of individuals.