Our projects

Dr Tanya Applegate
 

Perceptions and acceptability among healthcare workers on the uptake of molecular point-of-care testing for Trichomonas and enablers and barriers.

Status

Underway

Year

2021

 

Named PI/Co-PI

Annie Tangey

Other investigators

L. Lafferty, R. Guy, L. Causer, J. Ward, RL. Huang, TTANGO2 Investigators

Lead EMCR

Annie Tangey

# of EMCRs

3

Regional setting

Remote and regional Australia

Discipline

Social Science

The Problem

Trichomonas vaginalis (trichomonas) is of public health concern because of its association with HIV transmission, adverse birth outcomes and reproductive health. Trichomonas has been described as a neglected infection with varied perceptions of its importance despite associated outcomes. Remote and regional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities experience high rates of trichomonas along with chlamydia and gonorrhoea infections, where delays in the return of laboratory test results affect timely management. Trichomonas point-of-care (POC) testing was integrated into routine practice in 2018 alongside chlamydia/gonorrhoea POC testing at remote and regional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary care clinics participating in the Test Treat ANd GO (TTANGO2) research translation program (2016-2019). Trichomonas POC tests are performed with a separate cartridge from the combined chlamydia/gonorrhoea cartridge. The epidemiology of trichomonas is highly skewed towards women with a broader age range and longer duration of infection than bacterial STIs, potentially influencing health workers’ perceptions and uptake of POC testing. While there is broad acceptability of chlamydia/gonorrhoea POC testing, the acceptability of the additional use of trichomonas POC testing in remote settings is unknown.

The Solution

To inform scale-up and support healthcare workers, it is important to understand the barriers and enablers to integrating POC for individual and public health benefit. This qualitative research has conducted semi-structured interviews with healthcare workers and clinic managers from randomly selected clinics participating in the TTANGO2 program with the aim of better understanding the acceptability of integrating trichomonas POC testing. Informed by Sekhon et al.’s Theoretical Framework of Acceptability, we are exploring perceptions of acceptability, as well as identifying the enablers and barriers of trichomonas POC testing use within an existing STI POC testing program in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary care clinics. Understanding how the uptake of trichomonas POC testing is influenced by healthcare workers’ perceptions of acceptability, knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and barriers will contribute key evidence to inform the suitability of the scale-up of this POC test.

Related Publications

Scaling up sexually transmissible infections point-of-care testing in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities: healthcare workers’ perceptions of the barriers and facilitators.

Implement Sci Commun. 2021

Lafferty L, Smith K, Causer L, Andrewartha K, Whiley D, Badman SG, Donovan B, Anderson L, Tangey A, Mak D, Maher L, Shephard M, Guy R; TTANGO2 Collaboration. More Info.

Acceptability among healthcare workers and clinic managers of molecular point-of-care testing for Trichomonas vaginalis.

Selected for oral presentation at the Australasian Sexual and Reproductive Health Conference, Manly, 2023 and poster presentation at the First Australasian Conference on Point of Care Testing for Infectious Diseases, POC 2023, Sydney 2023.

Tangey A, Causer L, Guy R, Huang R, Ward J, Smith K, Lafferty L.