IN PRACTICE

Monitoring STI prevalence using telephone surveys and mailed urine specimens: a pilot test

E Eggleston¹, C F Turner^1,2, S M Rogers¹, A Roman³, W C Miller⁴, M A Villarroel¹ and L Ganapathi⁵

¹ Health and Behavior Measurement Program, Research Triangle Institute, Washington DC, USA
² Queens College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, NY, USA
³ Center for Survey Research, University of Massachusetts-Boston, USA
⁴ Departments of Medicine and Epidemiology, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, USA
⁵ Research Computing Division, Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Elizabeth Eggleston
Research Triangle Institute, 1615 M Street NW, Suite 740, Washington DC, 20036, USA; eeggleston{at}rti.org

Objectives: This pilot test assessed the feasibility of a cost effective population based approach to STI monitoring using automated telephone interviews, urine specimen collection kits sent out and returned by US Postal Service mail, and monetary incentives to motivate participation.

Methods: 100 residents of Baltimore, MD, USA, completed an automated telephone survey and agreed to mail in a urine specimen to be tested for chlamydia and gonorrhoea. Participants were paid $10 for completing the survey and $40 for mailing the specimen.

Results: 86% of survey participants mailed in a urine specimen for testing.

Conclusions: Automated telephone surveys linked with testing of mailed-in urine specimens may be a feasible lower cost (relative to household surveys) method of estimating infection prevalences in a population.

Abbreviations: LCR, ligase chain reaction; STI, sexually transmitted infections

Keywords: STI prevalence

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