OBJECTIVE: To describe the range of practice for sexually transmitted disease (STD) contact tracing/partner notification (PN) by public health agencies in Canada. METHODS: A two-level mailed survey, using two different questionnaires, was conducted from Aug. 1991 to Feb. 1992, directed to: 1) provincial and territorial epidemiologists/directors of STD control, asking about program organization; and 2) 154 local health units/provincially run PN programs, asking about practice patterns of STD partner notification. CONCLUSIONS: In Canada, STD PN by public health agencies is routinely practised in most provinces. PN efforts vary by the STD; less PN effort goes to chlamydia despite a high burden of illness; HIV PN is frequently perceived to be within the responsibility of the physician. For STDs with higher PN effort, the preferred method is provider referral. Targeting is seldom utilized, and there are little available data at a local level monitoring even process measures of effectiveness.

Canada↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Partner notification for sexually transmitted diseases: proposed practice guidelines.

Using the results of an analysis of available scientific evidence and a survey of current practice in Canada, as well as expert opinion, these guidelines attempt to consider current partner notification practice in Canada and recommend an approach to determining practice which is flexible enough to address local circumstances. Priority areas for future research were also identified.

Advisory Committees↗