Sampling time for self-taking an oropharyngeal swab for gonorrhoea and chlamydia testing.

ABSTRACT

Self-taking oropharyngeal swabs for sexually transmitted infections such as gonorrhoea and chlamydia has become more common during the COVID-19 pandemic to minimise the risk to healthcare workers. However, there have been no standardised guidelines on sampling time for taking an oropharyngeal swab for gonorrhoea and chlamydia testing. We recruited 215 participants at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, Australia, between November 2021 and January 2022. We asked participants to report the time they spent on self-taking the oropharyngeal swab. The median self-taking sampling time was 8s (IQR=5-12), and the time did not differ between oropharyngeal gonorrhoea positivity (P =0.570) and oropharyngeal chlamydia positivity (P =0.457).