Health and service utilization among a sample of gender-diverse youth of color: the TRUTH study
Rusow et al.
The finding, in our words
Among 108 gender-diverse youth of colour aged 16-24, this study documented high rates of housing instability (30%), limited healthcare access (26% had no place to go for healthcare), and elevated substance use and sexual risk behaviours. The protocol included self-collection of rectal, frontal, and throat swabs for STI testing alongside urine and blood sampling, demonstrating decentralised diagnostic methods in a marginalised population with poor healthcare access.
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 retrospective analysis of over 600,000 online postal self-sampling orders found that whilst return rates for urine samples were moderate to high, the return of processable blood samples was significantly lower and varied by age and deprivation level.
Gibbs et al., Sexually transmitted infections (paywalled) · source ↗
This pilot study demonstrated that a fully remote web-based testing programme for sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections was feasible and acceptable overall, although participants encountered specific collection challenges with the dried blood spot component.
Christensen et al., International journal of STD & AIDS · source ↗
A home-based PrEP follow-up programme using self-collected specimens and remote monitoring was evaluated among predominantly Black and Latino men who have sex with men in South Florida. Only 37.5% elected home-based care, with completion rates falling from 48.3% at first follow-up to 15% by the third, and most returned to clinic care citing discomfort with self-collection and logistical barriers, highlighting that decentralised HIV prevention requires enhanced support to achieve equitable uptake and persistence.
Butts et al., Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (paywalled) · source ↗