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.
Nearly half of participants preferred clinician collection of oropharyngeal swabs over self-collection.
Two-thirds of participants found oropharyngeal self-collection easy or very easy.
Anxiety about correct technique was independently associated with preference for clinician collection.
Difficulty swabbing the back of the oropharynx was independently associated with preference for clinician collection.
Self-collected oropharyngeal swabs were widely adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce transmission risks, but limited data existed on acceptability among GBM across levels of experience.
Enhancing instructional support and addressing confidence were identified as potential strategies to improve acceptability of oropharyngeal self-collection.
This research examined how acceptable it was for gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM) to collect their own throat swabs for gonorrhoea and chlamydia testing. The study surveyed 381 men attending a sexual health clinic in Melbourne, Australia, shortly after they had self-collected a throat swab. While two-thirds of participants found the process easy or very easy, nearly half still said they would prefer a clinician to take the swab rather than doing it themselves. Only about one in five preferred self-collection. The main reasons men preferred clinician collection were worrying about whether they were using the correct technique and finding it difficult to reach the back of the throat with the swab. Men who reported anxiety about technique were nearly five times more likely to prefer clinician collection, and those who had difficulty reaching the back of the oropharynx were about three and a half times more likely to prefer clinician collection. This research suggests that while self-collection of throat swabs is feasible and most people can do it without difficulty, confidence and technique concerns remain significant barriers to its broad acceptance. Providing clearer instructions and better guidance to patients on how to self-collect throat swabs could help more people feel comfortable with this approach, which could support more accessible and scalable sexual health screening services.
Phillips T, Fairley C, Maddaford K, De Petra V, Chow E. (2025). Acceptability of self-collected oropharyngeal swabs for gonorrhoea and chlamydia screening among men who have sex with men in a sexual health clinic setting.. Sexual health. https://doi.org/10.1071/SH25126