Assessment of HIV prevalence among MSM in Tokyo using self-collected dried blood spots delivered through the postal service
Takano et al.
The finding, in our words
Self-collected dried blood spots returned by post achieved an 82.4% return rate and identified a 3.04% HIV prevalence among men who have sex with men in Tokyo, with 70.6% of provisional positives later confirmed at hospital, demonstrating strong demand for postal self-sampling screening in populations that conventional services struggle to reach.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
The study found that self-collection of dried blood spots and other samples using at-home kits was a useful and cost-effective method for screening a large cohort for sexually transmitted infections outside a clinic. This demonstrates the feasibility of decentralised, patient-centric sampling for population-level infectious disease surveillance.
Mimiaga et al., Sexually transmitted infections (paywalled) · source ↗
This narrative review surveys remote biospecimen collection products for sexual health research, including dried blood spots and volumetric absorptive microsampling, and concludes that successful implementation needs a multidisciplinary, participant-centred team with sufficient time allocated to the complexities of collection procedures and processes.
Horvath et al., AIDS and behavior (paywalled) · source ↗
The study found that DBS testing showed high specificity for HIV, HBV and HCV and perfect sensitivity for HIV and HBV, but lower sensitivity for syphilis and HCV, with creatinine measurements slightly higher than venous samples. Despite challenges in sample adequacy, DBS was acceptable to participants and could support decentralised STI and renal monitoring in men who have sex with men.
Nieuwenburg et al., Sexually transmitted diseases · source ↗
Self-collected dried blood spots were used to assess HIV status at 12 months in 1168 participants. Integration of sexual and reproductive health services increased linkage to HIV prevention care within 60 days (adjusted odds ratio 1·68) compared with standard referral, whereas peer support had no effect.
Shahmanesh et al., The lancet. HIV (paywalled) · source ↗
Internet-based self-sampling of dried blood spots for HIV total nucleic acid testing was feasible, with a 95% qualification rate and good confidentiality, and it complemented sentinel surveillance.