Who is coming back for more chlamydia testing within non-specialist health services and where do they go? England, 2013–2016

Objectives: To investigate patient demographics and venue type preferences within community settings associated with re-attendance for chlamydia testing. 

Study design: Data used for this analysis were obtained from the English National Chlamydia Screening Programme (NCSP) which focuses on prevention, control and treatment of chlamydia in sexually active under-25 year olds. A greater understanding of how young adults attend services helps to inform commissioners regarding where to focus resources within community settings. 

Methods: Data from the Chlamydia surveillance system (CTAD) were used to count patient attendances at non-specialist sexual health services (SHSs) among 15–24-year-olds and monitor re-attendance for chlamydia testing within and between community services between 6 and 18 months of their first visit. 

Results: From January 2013 to December 2016, 866,847 young people underwent 1,041,245 tests for chlamydia. Re-attendance for chlamydia testing was 20.1% (174,398/866,847). Re-attendance rate was 28.5% after a positive test and 19.5% after a negative test. For re-attenders, 64.2% used the same venue type for both visits. General practice (GP) and sexual and reproductive health services (SRH) were the most commonly re-attended services (31.0% and 30.6% respectively). 

Conclusions: Only one in five re-attended for chlamydia testing. Re-attendance was associated with having a positive result, accessibility and convenience. Patients are likely to return for testing to services they know. This should be considered by commissioners implementing new re-attendance guidance based on the NCSP.