{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,21]],"date-time":"2026-05-21T13:35:20Z","timestamp":1779370520536,"version":"3.53.0"},"reference-count":14,"publisher":"CSIRO Publishing","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,4]],"date-time":"2025-12-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1764806400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,23]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Self-collected oropharyngeal swabs for gonorrhoea and chlamydia screening were widely adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce transmission risks. Although self-collection is established for other anatomical sites, limited data exist on the acceptability of oropharyngeal self-collection among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, particularly across levels of experience.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We conducted a cross-sectional online survey among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men attending Melbourne Sexual Health Centre between June 2020 and October 2022. Participants were invited via SMS within a day of self-collecting an oropharyngeal swab. The survey assessed swab experience, comfort and preference for clinician- or self-collection. Logistic regression examined factors associated with preferring clinician collection.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Among 381 participants, 47.6% (181\/381) preferred clinician collection, 30.5% (116\/381) had no preference and 21.8% (83\/381) preferred self-collection for oropharyngeal samples. Two-thirds (253\/381) found self-collection easy or very easy. Preference for clinician collection was independently associated with anxiety about correct technique (aOR 4.9, 95% CI 2.5\u20139.5) and difficulty swabbing the back of the oropharynx (aOR 3.6, 95% CI 1.4\u20139.2).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Although most gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men found oropharyngeal self-collection easy, nearly half preferred clinician collection, largely due to concerns about correct technique. Enhancing instructional support and addressing confidence may improve acceptability,\u00a0and support ongoing use of self-collection in sexual healthcare delivery.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1071\/sh25126","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,26]],"date-time":"2025-11-26T04:52:32Z","timestamp":1764132752000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Acceptability of self-collected oropharyngeal swabs for gonorrhoea and chlamydia screening among men who have sex with men in a sexual health clinic setting"],"prefix":"10.1071","volume":"22","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6920-7710","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Tiffany R.","family":"Phillips","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"AMelbourne Sexual Health Centre, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Vic, Australia."},{"name":"BSchool of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Vic, Australia."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9081-1664","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Christopher K.","family":"Fairley","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"AMelbourne Sexual Health Centre, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Vic, Australia."},{"name":"BSchool of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Vic, Australia."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kate","family":"Maddaford","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"AMelbourne Sexual Health Centre, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Vic, Australia."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Vesna","family":"De Petra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CMicrobiological Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity at The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic, Australia."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1766-0657","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Eric P. F.","family":"Chow","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"AMelbourne Sexual Health Centre, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Vic, Australia."},{"name":"BSchool of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Vic, Australia."},{"name":"DMelbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic, Australia."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"67","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,9]]},"reference":[{"issue":"6","key":"2025120904460874300_R1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"622","DOI":"10.1111\/1753-6405.13158","article-title":"Sexual health service adaptations to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Australia: a nationwide online survey.","volume":"45","author":"Phillips","year":"2021","journal-title":"Aust N Z J Public Health"},{"issue":"4","key":"2025120904460874300_R2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"278","DOI":"10.1097\/OLQ.0000000000000785","article-title":"Let\u2019s take a \u201cselfie\u201d: self-collected samples for sexually transmitted infections.","volume":"45","author":"Gaydos","year":"2018","journal-title":"Sex Transm Dis"},{"issue":"8","key":"2025120904460874300_R3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2133","DOI":"10.1128\/jcm.35.8.2133-2135.1997","article-title":"Diagnosis of genitourinary Chlamydia trachomatis infections by using the ligase chain reaction on patient-obtained vaginal swabs.","volume":"35","author":"Hook","year":"1997","journal-title":"J Clin Microbiol"},{"issue":"9","key":"2025120904460874300_R4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4395","DOI":"10.1128\/JCM.41.9.4395-4399.2003","article-title":"Comparing first-void urine specimens, self-collected vaginal swabs, and endocervical specimens to detect Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae by a nucleic acid amplification test.","volume":"41","author":"Shafer","year":"2003","journal-title":"J Clin Microbiol"},{"issue":"7","key":"2025120904460874300_R5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0132776","article-title":"Self-collected versus clinician-collected sampling for chlamydia and gonorrhea screening: a systemic review and meta-analysis.","volume":"10","author":"Lunny","year":"2015","journal-title":"PLoS ONE"},{"key":"2025120904460874300_R6","unstructured":"King J, McManus H, Kwon A, Gray R, McGregor S. HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmissible infections in Australia: annual surveillance report 2023. Sydney: The Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney; 2023."},{"key":"2025120904460874300_R7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2022.992773","article-title":"Acceptability of rectal self-sampling in non-clinical venues for chlamydia and gonorrhea testing among men who have sex with men: a cross-sectional study in Shenzhen, China.","volume":"10","author":"Weng","year":"2022","journal-title":"Front Public Health"},{"issue":"1","key":"2025120904460874300_R8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s12879-024-10273-8","article-title":"Performance and acceptability of self-collected specimens for diagnosis of rectal and pharyngeal Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections among men who have sex with men in China: a randomized controlled trial.","volume":"24","author":"Jiang","year":"2024","journal-title":"BMC Infect Dis"},{"issue":"S2","key":"2025120904460874300_R9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"104","DOI":"10.1089\/apc.2022.0078","article-title":"Automated sexual history and self-collection of extragenital chlamydia and gonorrhea improve detection of bacterial sexually transmitted infections in people with HIV.","volume":"36","author":"Chapman","year":"2022","journal-title":"AIDS Patient Care STDs"},{"issue":"9","key":"2025120904460874300_R10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e01215","DOI":"10.1128\/JCM.01215-20","article-title":"Changing from clinician-collected to self-collected throat swabs for oropharyngeal gonorrhea and chlamydia screening among men who have sex with men.","volume":"58","author":"Chow","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Clin Microbiol"},{"issue":"11","key":"2025120904460874300_R11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3624","DOI":"10.1128\/JCM.01647-15","article-title":"Detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates from tonsils and posterior oropharynx.","volume":"53","author":"Bissessor","year":"2015","journal-title":"J Clin Microbiol"},{"issue":"4","key":"2025120904460874300_R12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"287","DOI":"10.1136\/sextrans-2017-053339","article-title":"Sampling technique and detection rates of oropharyngeal and anorectal gonorrhoea using nucleic acid amplification tests in men who have sex with men.","volume":"94","author":"Yang","year":"2018","journal-title":"Sex Transm Infect"},{"issue":"8","key":"2025120904460874300_R13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"522","DOI":"10.1097\/OLQ.0b013e3181d73cc7","article-title":"Sampling technique and detection rates for pharyngeal gonorrhea using culture.","volume":"37","author":"Razali","year":"2010","journal-title":"Sex Transm Dis"},{"issue":"2","key":"2025120904460874300_R14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"148","DOI":"10.1071\/SH22034","article-title":"Sampling time for self-taking an oropharyngeal swab for gonorrhoea and chlamydia testing.","volume":"19","author":"Chow","year":"2022","journal-title":"Sex Health"}],"container-title":["Sexual Health"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/connectsci.au\/sh\/article-pdf\/doi\/10.1071\/SH25126\/1834112\/sh25126.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"syndication"},{"URL":"https:\/\/connectsci.au\/sh\/article-pdf\/doi\/10.1071\/SH25126\/1834112\/sh25126.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,9]],"date-time":"2025-12-09T09:49:02Z","timestamp":1765273742000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/connectsci.au\/sh\/article\/22\/6\/SH25126\/266065\/Acceptability-of-self-collected-oropharyngeal"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Cheng","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,9]]},"references-count":14,"journal-issue":{"issue":"6","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,23]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1071\/sh25126","relation":{},"ISSN":["1448-5028","1449-8987"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1448-5028","type":"print"},{"value":"1449-8987","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,9]]},"article-number":"SH25126"}}