Review: partner notification interventions can reduce persistent or recurrent sexually transmitted infections
Q In patients with sexually transmitted infections (STIs), is the addition of partner notification interventions to patient referral more effective than patient referral alone for reducing persistent or recurrent infections (PRIs)?
METHODS
Data sources:
Medline, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, Sigle, and DARE (all from 1990 to 2005); 2 electronic research registers (International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number Register and clinicaltrials.gov); and reference lists.
Study selection and assessment:
randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that compared patient referral plus partner notification interventions with patient referral alone in patients with STIs. Patient referral involved index patients informing sexual partners about infections and advising them to seek treatment, with or without clinic contact cards. 14 RCTs (n = 12 389) evaluating 16 interventions met the selection criteria. STIs included gonorrhoea, chlamydia, non-gonococcal urethritis, trichomoniasis, or STI syndromes. Quality assessment of individual studies was based on randomisation, allocation concealment, …
