How long should clinicians spend sampling the pharynx for gonorrhoea culture specimens?
Sarah Stuart A , Daniel Richardson
A B * , Collins Iwuji A B and Suneeta Soni A B
A Department of Global Health and Infection, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9PX, UK.
B Sexual Health and HIV, University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, BN2 5BE, UK.
Sexual Health 19(1) 74-75 https://doi.org/10.1071/SH21203
Submitted: 8 October 2021 Accepted: 5 November 2021 Published: 31 December 2021
© 2021 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing
Abstract
There are few data on the length of time clinicians should take sampling the pharynx to optimise the sensitivity of gonorrhoea culture specimens and we aimed to gain a consensus on sampling time. The estimated mean time clinicians reported that they spent sampling the pharynx for gonorrhoea culture specimens was 4.63 s (s.d. ± 2.04). There was no significant difference in sampling times between clinicians who had worked in sexual health for over and under 10 years, (4.7 (s.d. ±2.02) vs 4.6 (s.d. ± 2.3); P = 0.45). We are now using these findings to design an educational tool with the aim of improving pharyngeal gonorrhoea culture sensitivity.
Keywords: gag reflex, gonorrhoea, gonorrhoea culture, men who have sex with men, pharynx, sampling, sexual health clinicians, sexually transmitted infections.
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