TY - JOUR
T1 - Exploring the attitudes of men who have sex with men on anal self-examination for early detection of primary anorectal syphilis
T2 - a qualitative study
AU - Aung, Ei T.
AU - Fairley, Christopher K.
AU - Ong, Jason J.
AU - Bilardi, Jade E.
AU - Chen, Marcus Y.
AU - Chow, Eric P.F.
AU - Phillips, Tiffany R.
N1 - Funding Information:
Financial interests: All other authors have no financial conflicts of interest to declare. Non-financial interest: EPFC is supported by an Australian NHMRC Emerging Leadership Investigator Grant (GNT1172873). CKF is supported by an Australian NHMRC Leadership Investigator Grant (GNT1172900). JJO is supported by an Australian NHMRC Early Career Fellowship (GNT1104781). ETA is supported by Research Training Program (RTP) scholarship from Monash University. JEB is supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) Fellowship (DE200100049). All other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Funding Information:
This study was supported by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator Grant (GNT1172873). The funding body has no influence or involvement in the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and in writing the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/9/20
Y1 - 2021/9/20
N2 - Background: Studies show men who have sex with men (MSM) practising receptive anal sex are more likely to present with secondary syphilis, suggesting anorectal primary lesions are being missed. Regular anal self-examination might be able to detect anorectal syphilis lesions, hence potentially reducing transmission. This study aimed to explore the attitudes of MSM on performing anal self-examination to detect primary syphilis. Methods: In this qualitative study, 20 MSM over 18 years of age were purposively sampled from a sexual health clinic to participate in semi-structured interviews. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and data analysed thematically. Results: Four major themes and 12 sub-themes were generated from the study: (1) reasons for performing anal self-examination, (2) preferred educational resources for anal self-examination, (3) attitudes towards partner anal examination, and (4) acceptability of anal self-examination. Most participants had performed some form of anal self-examination in the past, and, just over half performed regularly for mostly health-related concerns. Most participants who infrequently or never performed anal self-examination were agreeable to perform regularly if it was recommended by health professionals with appropriate guidance. Participants preferred education on anal self-examination from health professionals and trusted online learning resources. Conclusion: Our study showed MSM were agreeable to anal self-examination however would like to receive education and training to gain more confidence in conducting anal self-examination as a screening tool. Further studies are required to explore the adherence and acceptability of anal self-examination for syphilis prior to studies examining efficacy. The study provides foundation for any future policy aiming at utilising anal self-examination as a screening tool for syphilis among MSM.
AB - Background: Studies show men who have sex with men (MSM) practising receptive anal sex are more likely to present with secondary syphilis, suggesting anorectal primary lesions are being missed. Regular anal self-examination might be able to detect anorectal syphilis lesions, hence potentially reducing transmission. This study aimed to explore the attitudes of MSM on performing anal self-examination to detect primary syphilis. Methods: In this qualitative study, 20 MSM over 18 years of age were purposively sampled from a sexual health clinic to participate in semi-structured interviews. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and data analysed thematically. Results: Four major themes and 12 sub-themes were generated from the study: (1) reasons for performing anal self-examination, (2) preferred educational resources for anal self-examination, (3) attitudes towards partner anal examination, and (4) acceptability of anal self-examination. Most participants had performed some form of anal self-examination in the past, and, just over half performed regularly for mostly health-related concerns. Most participants who infrequently or never performed anal self-examination were agreeable to perform regularly if it was recommended by health professionals with appropriate guidance. Participants preferred education on anal self-examination from health professionals and trusted online learning resources. Conclusion: Our study showed MSM were agreeable to anal self-examination however would like to receive education and training to gain more confidence in conducting anal self-examination as a screening tool. Further studies are required to explore the adherence and acceptability of anal self-examination for syphilis prior to studies examining efficacy. The study provides foundation for any future policy aiming at utilising anal self-examination as a screening tool for syphilis among MSM.
KW - Anal self-examination
KW - Anal syphilis
KW - Screening for anal syphilis
KW - Syphilis in MSM
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85115221315&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s12879-021-06686-4
DO - 10.1186/s12879-021-06686-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 34544383
AN - SCOPUS:85115221315
SN - 1471-2334
VL - 21
JO - BMC Infectious Diseases
JF - BMC Infectious Diseases
IS - 1
M1 - 982
ER -
