Characteristics of GCO and STI clinic client groups
| GCO clients n=1093 | STI clients n=18 404 | P value* | |
| Age (years), mean, median (IQR) | 34.4, 32.2 (27.0, 39.7) | 34.0, 31.0 (26.0, 40.0) | 0.2098 |
| <30 | 440 (40.3%) | 7973 (43.3%) | 0.0504 |
| 30–39 | 387 (35.4%) | 5808 (31.6%) | 0.0087 |
| 40+ | 266 (24.3%) | 4621 (25.1%) | 0.5918 |
| Missing | 0/1093 (0.0%) | 2 (<0.1%) | n/c |
| Gender/sexual orientation | |||
| Women | 307 (28.1%) | 4271 (23.2%) | 0.0003 |
| MSM | 397 (35.0%) | 6071 (41.6%) | 0.0250 |
| MSW | 383 (36.3%) | 7659 (33.0%) | <0.0001 |
| Missing | 6 (0.5%) | 403 (2.2%) | 0.0004 |
| Ethnicity | |||
| White | 688 (62.9%) | 8743 (47.5%) | <0.0001 |
| Non-white/racialised | 274 (25.1%) | 4893 (26.6%) | 0.2848 |
| Missing | 131 (12.0%) | 4768 (25.9%) | <0.0001 |
| Symptoms† | 245 (22.4%) | 4600 (25.0%) | 0.0600 |
| Partner contact to STI† | 144 (13.2%) | 2556 (13.9%) | 0.5363 |
| History of STI diagnosis† | 237 (21.7%) | 3203 (17.4%) | 0.0004 |
| HIV-positive partner† | 38 (3.4%) | 425 (2.3%) | 0.0183 |
| Clients linked to LIS record (excluding STI clinic test episodes) | |||
| During pre-implementation period | 464 (42.4%) | 7900 (42.9%) | 0.8181 |
| During study period (ie, tests at other clinics) | 560 (51.2%) | 6717 (36.5%) | <0.0001 |
| Pre-implementation rate of testing per person-year mean, median (IQR) | 3.29, 1.64 (0.98, 2.66) | 3.16, 1.71 (1.00, 2.91) | 0.8527 |
| Number of test episodes | |||
| 1 | 659 (60.3%) | 10 204 (55.4%) | 0.0019 |
| 2 or more (ie, repeat tester) | 434 (39.7%) | 8200 (44.6%) | |
*Level of significance set at p<0.05 based on t-test or χ2 test.
†Reported in at least one visit (during study period).
GCO, GetCheckedOnline; LIS, laboratory information system; MSM, men who have sex with men; MSW, men who have sex with women; n/c, not calculated; STI, sexually transmitted infection.