An Educational Intervention to Improve Provider Screening for Syphilis Among Men Who Have Sex with Men Utilizing an Urban Urgent Care Center

Abstract

Rates of syphilis are increasing in the United States especially among men who have sex with men (MSM). The purpose of this project was to implement an educational intervention based on the 2015 CDC Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) Treatment Guidelines for urgent care providers with an emphasis on identifying MSM sexual behavior and appropriate screening for syphilis. An urgent care center was identified as a location where men seek care and where STD testing was occurring. After a baseline provider focus group to identify barriers to STD testing, a patient survey was created and given to clients to increase identification of MSM behaviors and to prompt providers to order syphilis testing. In addition, an educational intervention was implemented to improve provider and staff screening for syphilis. The intervention occurred between September 2015-December 2015. A total of 1341 males were seen with 1067 surveys collected. The mean age was 35.6 and 57.4% were Hispanic. Overall, 72 (5.4%) males identified as MSM. Approximately 50% of all MSM identified had RPRs (n = 37) sent and of these 13.5% (n = 5) tested positive for syphilis. The focus group among urgent care providers and staff identified barriers to syphilis testing. Targeted screening of males using a self-administered questionnaire is acceptable to urgent care populations and may assist in identifying MSM which in turn may help to facilitate syphilis screening and other relevant STI testing pertinent to this population.

Keywords: MSM (men-who-have-sex-with-men); Screening test; Syphilis; Urgent care setting.