Understanding psychosocial barriers to chlamydia retesting
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding psychosocial barriers to chlamydia retesting: A qualitative study
IRAS ID
319194
Contact name
Tom Witney
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Z6364106/2022/08/108, Data protection reference
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
Chlamydia is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) in England. It accounted for nearly half of all new STI diagnoses made at sexual health services in 2018. Chlamydia infections are most commonly seen in the 15-24-year-old age group. Although chlamydia is treatable with antibiotics, repeated infection carries an increased risk of serious complications, which can result in infertility. Because of this, the National Chlamydia Screening Programme (NCSP) guidelines advise that anyone diagnosed with chlamydia is retested for the infection three months after treatment. However, retesting rates in England remain low, with only around 1 in 10 people retesting as recommended.
Previous research suggests that a number of factors may influence people’s decisions to retest for chlamydia. These include social (e.g. social approval one expects from others for engaging in a responsible sexual health action), motivational (e.g. moral obligation to partners), psychological (e.g. awareness and education) and environmental (e.g. access) factors. However, to date, these have not been explored in-depth. Furthermore, methods to overcome these barriers are not well understood making it difficult to identify interventions that will successfully increase re-testing rates.
The aim of this study will be to speak with young people who have been recently diagnosed with chlamydia to explore potential barriers to and facilitators of retesting. It will also explore methods to overcome barriers to re-testing. The findings will help to develop potential intervention and implementation strategies to increase re-testing among those previously diagnosed with chlamydia and help to reduce the burden of repeat infections.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/NW/0186
Date of REC Opinion
10 Aug 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion