With rising STI rates and increased use of online STI testing services by young people, there is a need to strengthen treatment pathways from online services. This survey explored young Australians’ preferences for where to receive injectable antibiotics after receiving a positive result online for gonorrhoea or syphilis. Young people’s service preferences differed by sociodemographic characteristics, suggesting a need for multiple service offerings with an emphasis on convenience, affordability and creating a safe space ..read more

Our analysis, framed through a minority stress model, reveals distal and proximal stressors relating to living with HIV. Participants had experienced or were aware of institutionalised discrimination towards people living with HIV (PLHIV) across various aspects of their lives. Participants highlighted the role of anticipated stigma and the stress of concealment. An anti-discrimination framework, enforceable by law, on the institutional treatment of PLHIV would address unpredictability, address the manifold unknowns surrounding discriminatory experiences and improve their quality of life ..read more

Syphilis infection and congenital syphilis has increased substantially in Australia. Timely diagnosis and management can reduce transmission and complications. We developed and implemented a digital tool to promote syphilis testing in general practice, finding it was acceptable to clinicians and alerted some to updated guidelines who expanded their sexually transmissible infection testing practices to routinely include syphilis ..read more

This retrospective data analysis included 2056 male–male partnerships attending an urban sexual health clinic in Melbourne. We found that one in 20 male–male partnerships had at least one man who had both same-sex and opposite-sex partners within the preceding year. There is no assortative relationship in sexual mixing by bisexuality, suggesting bisexual men do not specifically choose other bisexual men as their sexual partners ..read more

Although designed to protect patients, the penicillin allergy label on medical records is associated with increased use of less effective, more toxic and more expensive antibiotics. This study found that patients with the label were significantly less likely to receive first-line treatment (ceftriaxone) for gonorrhoea infection, even if they were likely able to tolerate the antibiotic. This impact on antibiotic prescribing is detrimental to patient care, healthcare costs and antimicrobial stewardship, and may occur in other jurisdictions, populations and care settings ..read more

Pre-exposure prophylaxis therapy is highly effective in preventing HIV transmission; however, it is markedly underprescribed. Most commonly cited reasons for not prescribing pre-exposure prophylaxis are lack of physician comfort and knowledge. We developed a mobile application (app) that can be used during patient encounters to help clinicians identify appropriate patients and appropriately prescribe therapy. This app can be used in low-resource settings where HIV prevalence is highest ..read more

Men who have sex with men (MSM) suffer from health disparities at higher rates than men who have sex with women, which combined with the well understood association between obesity and poor health outcomes, calls attention to the unique health considerations of MSM with obesity. Mobile applications, such as Grindr, can be a valuable source of information on sociological predictors of health among MSM. We aimed to describe differences in the use of Grindr between MSM with and without obesity, and to use Grindr information to reveal trends that may serve as potential predictors of health. Our st ..read more

Health disparities remain a pressing issue globally, and Chatbot-Assisted Self Assessment (CASA) may enhance sexual health screening intentions among minoritised ethnic groups at risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). This innovative study reveals that CASA significantly boosts screening intentions, alleviates concerns about STIs, and fosters positive attitudes towards sexual health screening. Importantly, these findings underscore the potential of artificial intelligence to bridge gaps in health care and contribute to the broader goal of achieving health equity, particularly in under ..read more

Quality of life (QOL) is an important priority for people living with HIV (PLHIV). Using a patient-reported outcome measure (PozQol tool), we found that 58% of PLHIV reported a high or very high QOL, and socio-demographic factors such as Medicare-ineligibility and unemployment were associated with lower QOL scores. PozQol may assist services by enhancing understanding of QOL among PLHIV, guide local and national policy, health service provision, and promote empowerment of individuals to better understand their own QOL ..read more

Patient-delivered partner therapy (PDPT) involves providing a prescription or medication to a patient with chlamydia to pass to their sexual partner/s, but clinicians have expressed uncertainty about its permissibility and integration into practice. We surveyed clinician perspectives on updated health authority guidance for PDPT; finding they largely viewed it as supportive for PDPT decision-making and addressed some practical barriers. Low awareness of the updated guidance, and medico-legal concerns, for some, highlight scope for further dissemination and clarification of PDPT permissibility ..read more