Background Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, sexual health clinics across Australia have switched from clinician-collected to self-collected swabs for oropharyngeal STI screening. The study aimed to determine the acceptability of self-collected throat swabs among 200 gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) attending a sexual health service. Methods GBMSM aged ≥16 years old, had a throat swab taken at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre (MSHC), and provided consent to participate in research, were invited to take this online survey by SMS. The survey collected data on how easy or difficult men found collecting their own throat swab. Results 273 GBMSM completed the survey;218 (79.9%) selfcollected their throat swab and were included in the final analysis. Most participants found collecting their own throat swabs very easy, easy, or were neutral (190;87.2%;95% confidence interval [95%CI]: 82.0% to 91.3%) and 28 (12.8%;95%CI: 8.7% to 18.0%) found it difficult or very difficult. There were 85 (39.0%) who reported taking the swab by themselves was worse than previous experiences of cliniciancollected swabs, compared to 110 (50.5%) who reported it was better taking the swab by themselves or found no difference to previous clinician-collected swabs. The two most commonly reported experiences during self-collection were gagging (155;71.1%) and being worried they had not done it correctly (46 out of 95 who were asked this;48.4%). Almost half of participants preferred to have a clinician take their throat swab (103;47.5%;95%CI: 40.5% to 54.1%);66 (30.4%;CI: 24.3% to 36.8%) did not have a preference and 48 (22.1%;95%CI: 16.7% to 28.1%) preferred to take the swab themselves. Conclusion Most GBMSM did not find self-collecting throat swabs difficult, however almost half of participants preferred to have a clinician take the swab..
Acceptability of self-collected throat swabs among men who have sex with men attending a sexual health centre