Testing commercial sex workers for sexually transmitted infections in Victoria, Australia: An evaluation of the impact of reducing the frequency of testing

EPF Chow; G Fehler; MY Chen; CS Bradshaw; I Denham; MG Law; CK Fairley

Journal article

Testing commercial sex workers for sexually transmitted infections in Victoria, Australia: An evaluation of the impact of reducing the frequency of testing

EPF Chow, G Fehler, MY Chen, CS Bradshaw, I Denham, MG Law, CK Fairley

Plos One | Published : 2014

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0103081

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Abstract

Background: The frequency of testing sex workers for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in Victoria, Australia, was changed from monthly to quarterly on 6 October 2012. Our aim was to determine the impact of this change to the clients seen at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre (MHSC). Methods: Computerised medical records of all clients attending at MHSC from 7 October 2011 to 7 October 2013 were analysed. Results: Comparing between the monthly and quarterly testing periods, the number of consultations at MSHC with female sex workers (FSW) halved from 6146 to 3453 (p<0.001) and the consultation time spent on FSW reduced by 40.6% (1942 h to 1153 h). More heterosexual men (p<0.001), and wo..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Eric Chow Author

Catriona Bradshaw Author

Related Projects (1)

SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS: CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES AND INTERVENTIONS

Sexually transmitted infections are important causes of serious illness and death in Australia and overseas with high or rising rates of tre..

Grants

Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council

Funding Acknowledgements

Funding for this study was provided by an NHMRC program grant (568971). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.