Young individuals who acquired texts from a messaging service selling protected intercourse had larger charges of sexually transmitted infections than those that didn’t, a research has discovered.
Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine had got down to study whether or not texting teenagers and younger adults about protected intercourse would cease them from getting additional infections.
The research, revealed within the BMJ, checked out two teams of greater than 3,100 16 to 24-year-olds who had a earlier an infection of chlamydia, gonorrhoea, or “non-specific urethritis” – an an infection of the urethra mostly attributable to an STI.
One group was signed as much as the Safetxt venture which aimed to cut back chlamydia and gonorrhoea reinfection by encouraging individuals to observe their STI remedy correctly, together with informing companions about their very own an infection, selling condom use, and inspiring individuals to hunt STI testing earlier than unprotected intercourse with a brand new companion.
Participants receiving dozens of texts on the topic at various intervals, tailor-made to gender and sexual orientation and recipients may ask for extra info on particular subjects.
The second group didn’t obtain the texts, however had a month-to-month textual content checking their postal and e-mail addresses had been the identical.
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Researchers discovered that 22.2% of those that acquired the Safetxts had been re-infected with chlamydia or gonorrhoea, in comparison with simply 20.3% within the different group.
The research authors wrote: “The Safetxt intervention didn’t cut back chlamydia and gonorrhoea reinfections at one yr in individuals aged 16-24 years.
“More reinfections occurred in the Safetxt group.
“The outcomes spotlight the necessity for rigorous analysis of well being communication interventions.”
Need for rigorous evaluation
The authors said the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends the use of digital health communication for “strengthening well being techniques, together with for sexual and reproductive well being”, provided that privacy and sensitivity concerns can be taken into consideration.
But the researchers said: “In gentle of our outcomes, WHO ought to revise its endorsement of digital behaviour change communication for strengthening well being techniques, to specify which subjects and content material WHO endorses.”
They concluded: “Safetxt didn’t cut back STIs. More reinfections occurred within the intervention group. Our outcomes spotlight the necessity for rigorous analysis of well being communication interventions.
“Future work could evaluate the effect of interventions promoting condom use and STI testing in those at risk but with a diagnosis of an STI.
“Further analysis ought to deal with how one can cut back the stigma related to STIs to learn wellbeing, remedy, and precautionary behaviours for these with a prognosis of an STI, with out growing the danger of an infection.”
Source: information.sky.com”