Sexually transmitted diseases: health education by telephone

In Rotterdam an experiment was recently conducted using an automatic telephone answering service to provide information about sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and treatment. The answering service was started in September 1976 and was advertised in the "Clubs" column of two daily newspapers, three times a week, for 15 weeks. Readers of advertisements of sex clubs were the target group and the objectives were (1) to bring to their notice a special telephone number for information on STD, and (2) to urge them to report to an STD outpatient clinic if they thought they needed treatment. During the 15-week intervention there were 72,536 calls, i.e. about 700 calls per day and three and a half years after termination of the advertisements there are still about 500 calls per week. In addition, during the intervention about 100 subjects called a special telephone number (manned by a trained nurse) for additional information. New visitors reporting to the STD clinic during the September-December intervention increased by at least 11% and furthermore there was a considerable increase (about 50%) in the number of cultures for gonococci sent to the laboratory. However, the percentage of negative examination results was nearly the same during that period and similar periods of time during preceding years--which proves that the campaign did not provoke a rush of predominantly worried people to the STD clinic and/or to general practitioners and specialists. Based on these results it is suggested that the automatic telephone answering service, which apparently meets a need, be incorporated with the other forms of education on sexually transmitted diseases.