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Clinical Science

Category: Self-sampling/testing

(P332) Opinion of Public Health Laboratorians About Self-Collection and Point-of- Care Testing For Sexually Transmitted Infections

Wednesday, July 26, 2023
16:00 – 18:00 CST


Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has driven a revolution in point-of-care testing (POCT) technologies and home-based testing for infectious diseases, especially for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Although clinicians and patients were supportive of such STI testing in previous surveys, assessments of laboratorians’ opinions are lacking.



Methods: As part of a web-based survey conducted among members of the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) on the volume and type of testing for STIs in the United States in 2022, questions regarding opinions about STI self-collection and POC testing were included. The survey was conducted June-August 2022 and responses were received from 76% (84 out of 110) of all invited participants.



Results: For this survey, 84 participants responded: 49 (58%) from state laboratories and 35 (42%) from local laboratories. Of the 76 (90.5%) labs that performed testing for STIs, 40 (52.6%) accepted in clinic, self-collected specimens. 24% said the type of collection was not specified. Table 1 illustrates which STI was tested per in clinic, self-collected specimen site. Only 5(7%) labs accepted specimens self-collected in a non-clinical setting and 14 (18%) said this was not specified. When asked if POCTs for STI would be beneficial to patients or public health, 45 of 76 (59%) responded yes, 11% no and 30% didn’t know or preferred not to answer. Of the 45 who responded yes, the preferred POCT was for syphilis (78%) with 62% favoring chlamydia, 60% for gonorrhea and approximately 50% for both HSV and trichomonas. Of those who thought there was no benefit, reasons for “no” included lack of accuracy and reliability, lack of personnel to perform testing, quality control (QC)/quality assurance (QA). Overall, the major challenges identified for STI POCTs in the clinical setting were lack of QA/QC, mistrust of results and lack of surveillance reporting to public health. Advantages to their use included rapid turnaround time and faster treatment initiation, leading to decreased transmission of infections, immediate communication of results, counseling, and education of patients.



Conclusion: Although many laboratorians are in support of POCT in clinical setting, major concerns include lack of QA/QC, on-site personnel to perform testing, and surveillance reporting.