Brewer, D.D., Potterat,
J.J., Muth, S.Q., Malone, P.Z.,
Malone, P.Z., Montoya, P., Green , D.L., Rogers, H.L., & Cox, P.A.
(2005). Randomized trial of supplementary interviewing techniques to
enhance recall of sexual partners in contact interviews. Sexually Transmitted Diseases,
32, 189-193.
Background:
People with multiple sexual partners tend to forget a significant
proportion when recalling them.
Methods:
Randomized trial of supplementary interviewing techniques during
routine partner notification contact interviews for chlamydia,
gonorrhea, and syphilis in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Cases with
multiple sexual partners in the last three months (n=123)
participated. Interviewers prompted nonspecifically and read back
the list of elicited partners after cases recalled partners on their
own. We then randomly assigned cases to receive one of three sets
of recall cues: 1) an experimental set of cues consisting of locations
where people meet partners, role relationships, network ties, and first
letters of names, 2) another experimental set including common first
names, and 3) control cues referring to individual characteristics
(e.g., physical appearance).
Results:
Nonspecific prompting and reading back the list each increased the
number of additional partners elicited and located by 3-5% on
average. On average, the combined location/role/letter/network
cues elicited more additional partners (0.57) than did the first name
(0.29) and individual characteristics (0.28) cues. The location
and first name cues were the most effective in eliciting located
partners. The supplementary techniques increased the number of
new cases found by 12% and, importantly, identified branches of the
sexual network that would not otherwise have been discovered.
Conclusions:
Elicitation of sexual partners can be enhanced in contact interviews
with simple interviewing techniques, resulting in improved network
ascertainment and STD case finding.
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