Youth Knowledge and Perspectives on Expedited Partner Therapy

Purpose: Expedited partner therapy (EPT) is an effective sexually transmitted infection (STI) treatment and prevention practice that allows clinicians to provide treatment to the sexual partner(s) of individuals diagnosed with chlamydia and/or gonorrhea infections without a clinical evaluation. Due to the high incidence of STIs among youth, we sought to understand youth awareness and beliefs about EPT use. Methods: MyVoice, a national text message survey of youth aged 14-24 years, posed 5 questions on EPT knowledge and perceptions to 1,115 youth in August 2018. Responses were reviewed to identify themes and iteratively develop a codebook. Two reviewers independently coded each question, and a third reviewer resolved discrepancies. Summary statistics were calculated for demographic and thematic analysis. Results: A total of 835 participants responded to at least 1 question (74.9% response rate). Majority of youth (91.9%, n = 730/794) felt that it would be important to help their partners get treatment if they tested positive for chlamydia or gonorrhea. Although most participants were unaware of EPT (86.4%, n = 657/760), 81.3% (n = 624/768) supported the policy stating that it is pretty darn convenient. Youth also noted they would be interested in asking their provider for EPT. Participants opposing EPT (6.9%, n = 53/768) noted that they [sexual partner] are responsible for their own health and preferred to tell my partner to go to [their] doctor. Conclusions: Most youth in the MyVoice cohort felt that EPT was a good way to get treatment for their partners, even though the majority were not aware that EPT was available as an STI treatment option. (c) 2021 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine.

Automated summary

Most youth in the study felt that helping their partners get treatment was important, even though they were not familiar with EPT. Despite a lack of awareness about EPT, the majority of participants supported the policy.