STI Test Results? There May Soon Be an App for That

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An app currently in development provides STI results faster than the typical phone-call system.

December 19, 2016

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One day soon, receiving sexually transmitted infection (STI) test results may be as simple as launching an app on your phone, Reuters Health reports. AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), in partnership with Healthvana Inc., is developing such an app and has found it shaves down the time during which people with the three main bacterial STIs—chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis—are unknowingly infected and untreated.

Speaking at the 2016 STD Prevention Conference in Atlanta, a representative from AHF presented findings from a recent cross-sectional analysis of 1,460 male clients. The clients received STI testing in 2014 and 2015 from the health care nonprofit, tested positive for one of the three main bacterial STIs, were notified of their positive results and returned for treatment.

Before researchers introduced the app to the cohort, 799 clients went an average of 12.55 days between receiving the STI test and undergoing treatment. After the app became a part of the equation, 681 clients had an average of 10.68 days between testing and treatment.

The researchers concluded that the app reduced the time from the STI test to treatment by 1.87 days and that the period between the test and the positive test results fell by 1.95 days. The app did not change the time from the notification to treatment of the STI.

The investigators also found that the number of days between the test and treatment tapered by 15 percent and the time between the test and notification fell by 22 percent.

To read the Medscape article, click here (free registration with the site is required).

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