Pop-quiz can predict STI risk in young women
A six-question quiz by the John Hopkins School of Medicine can predict the risk of young women getting sexually transmitted infections (STI). The test, however, is not accurate for young men.
He quiz asks about the number of sex partners, the frequency of use of condoms, and the age and past infection status of a respondent.
The quiz was developed as a supplement as a supplement to the STI testing kit campaign, IWTK (I Want The Kit). The Risk Quiz can also be found on the campaign’s website. A smartphone-friendly version of the quiz will be available soon, say the researchers.
For the field test, 830 women and 550 men aged 14 and above were asked to take the quiz and were mailed home test kits. Higher scores mean higher risk of getting STI. Results show that the quiz predicted the risks of STI for women, but not for men.
“We are not quite sure why this is, but untruthfulness or the fact that men tend to have lower rates of STIs are possibilities,” says lead author Charlotte Gaydos, Dr.P.H., M.P.H., M.S., professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She says follow-up research is planned to increase accuracy of the quiz for both men and women.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends all women under 25 be tested for STIs, such as chlamydia and gonorrhea, once a year. A self-risk quiz, such as the one Gaydos’ team created, could help clinicians and consumers decide whether or not testing is a priority, she says.
