Effectiveness of a mass media campaign to recruit young adults for testing of Chlamydia trachomatis by use of home obtained and mailed samples

Berit Andersen¹, Lars Østergaard³, Jens K Møller² and Frede Olesen¹

¹ Research Unit and Department for General Practice, Vennelyst Boulevard 6, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
² Department of Clinical Microbiology, Aarhus University Hospital, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
³ Research Unit Q, Department of Infectious Diseases, Skejby Sygehus, Aarhus University Hospital, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark

Correspondence to:
Dr B Andersen duchand{at}dadlnet.dk

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a structured information campaign aiming to recruit young adults for a Chlamydia trachomatis test by use of a non-invasive, home obtained and mailed sample.

Methods: All individuals aged 21–23 living in Aarhus county, Denmark (30 000 young adults) were offered a mailed home sampling test for C trachomatis as part of a structured 14 week information campaign on chlamydia. The kit for home sampling could be requested by leaving a message on an answering machine or through a website on the internet.

Results: During the campaign 119 of 15 000 women (0.8%) and 64 of 15 000 men (0.4%) were tested. Prevalence of infection was 8.4% (10/119) and 7.8% (5/64) in females and males, respectively. Four infections in women (4/10=40%) and three infections in men (3/5=60%) were asymptomatic.

Conclusions: The mass media campaign had only a limited effect, and there is a need for more effective outreach programmes to recruit young asymptomatic individuals for C trachomatis testing.

Key Words: mass media; screening; Chlamydia trachomatis

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