Cascade of testing for chlamydia and gonorrhoea inclusive of an annual health check in an urban Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service

Condy Canuto; Judith A. Dean; Joseph Debattista; Jon Willis; Federica Barzi; Jonathan Leitch; James Ward

doi:10.1071/SH24075

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

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Cascade of testing for chlamydia and gonorrhoea inclusive of an annual health check in an urban Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service

Condy Canuto

^A ^* , Judith A. Dean

^B , Joseph Debattista ^C , Jon Willis ^D , Federica Barzi ^B , Jonathan Leitch ^E and James Ward ^B

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A School of Public Health, The University of Queensland, 288 Herston Road, Herston, Qld 4006, Australia.

^B Poche Centre for Indigenous Health, The University of Queensland, Toowong, Qld 4066, Australia. Email: j.dean4@uq.edu.au

^C Metro North Public Health Unit, Bryden Street, Windsor, Qld 4030, Australia. Email: Joseph.Debattista@health.qld.gov.au

^D Griffith University, (L03) Room 3.21, Logan, Qld 4131, Australia. Email: john.willis@griffith.edu.au

^E Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service Brisbane, 55 Annerley Road (PO Box 8112), Woolloongabba, Qld 41029, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: c.canuto@uq.edu.au

Handling Editor: Darren Russell

Sexual Health 22, SH24075 https://doi.org/10.1071/SH24075

Submitted: 9 April 2024 Accepted: 3 January 2025 Published: 30 January 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Background

To gain an understanding of chlamydia (CT) and gonorrhoea (NG) testing conducted within an annual health check (AHC) and in standard clinical consultations for clients aged 15–29 years attending an urban Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service in the period 2016–2021.

Methods

De-identified electronic medical record data were extracted and analysed on CT and NG testing by sex, age, Indigenous status and the context of testing (conducted within an AHC or not). An access, testing, and diagnosis cascade for CT and NG, inclusive of an AHC, was constructed.

Results

Combined testing within an AHC and outside an AHC for CT and NG ranged between 30 and 50%, except for the year 2021. Males were twice as likely to receive a CT and NG test within an AHC consultation as females. Females were almost equally likely to have a CT and NG test, both as part of an AHC consult and during other clinical consultations. Females had the highest CT positivity in 2018 (11%) and 2019 (11%), with a dip in 2020 (5%), whereas NG diagnoses remained stable at 2%.

Conclusion

The study demonstrates the potential of the AHC to facilitate greater coverage of CT and NG testing in an urban Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service. Screening conducted within an AHC alongside screening in clinical consultations might be enough to reduce CT prevalence over a sustained period.

Keywords: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, Aboriginal medical service, annual health check, cultural determinants, MBS715, sexual health, urban Aboriginal health, urban sexually transmissible infections.

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