STD partner notification and referral in primary level health centers in Nairobi, Kenya

Controlling sexually transmitted diseases requires that partners of patients with a sexually transmitted disease be notified and treated. However, many countries in the developing world lack the infrastructure and resources for effective partner referral.

To provide information on rates of partner referral in primary-level health centers in Kenya, to identify characteristics of patients with sexually transmitted diseases who inform their partners about the need for treatment, and to evaluate the impact of a brief counseling intervention on rates of partner notification.

Two-hundred-fifty-four patients presenting for treatment of a sexually transmitted disease were given 5 to 10 minutes of additional counseling on the importance of referring partners for sexually transmitted disease treatment. All patients who returned for follow-up 1 week later were interviewed to determine whether they had notified their sex partners.

Sixty-eight percent of patients who returned for follow-up reported they had referred their partners for treatment of a sexually transmitted disease. The highest rates of partner notification occurred among women attending maternal child health/family planning clinics and married men and women attending general outpatient clinics.

Strengthening and directing counseling toward women in maternal child health/family planning clinics and married men and women in general clinics may be an effective and inexpensive way to increase partner notification in the developing world.