SEQUENCE Digital: A multicentre trial of the eSexual Health Clinic-V1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Can an eSexual Health Clinic improve health outcomes for people with chlamydia and their partners? The SEQUENCE Digital cluster crossover randomised controlled trial.
IRAS ID
325353
Contact name
Claudia Estcourt
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 11 months, 11 days
Research summary
This trial will investigate whether our eSexual Health Clinic (eSHC) provides safe and efficient care to people who have chlamydia, the UK’s commonest sexually transmitted infection (STI), and their sex partners.
The eSHC is an online service enabling people with chlamydia, known as index patients, to answer health questions online and receive antibiotic treatment. Using the patient’s information, a validated clinical decision-making algorithm within the eSHC predicts whether prescribing standard antibiotic treatment is safe. A research nurse/doctor reviews the patient information and if clinically safe authorises an electronic prescription to be sent to the patient’s community pharmacy. The eSHC also helps patients notify their sex partners, either themselves directly or anonymously. Notified sex partners can access the eSHC or other services for testing and treatment.
We have shown that the eSHC is safe in exploratory (early) studies, published in The Lancet Public Health journal [1]. Since then, we have done research to improve the eSHC and make it accessible to people from the broadest cross-sections of society. This includes people of diverse backgrounds and people experiencing barriers accessing clinic-based and online sexual health services.
The trial has a randomised controlled cluster crossover design, which is often used in health service research.
We aim to determine the effectiveness of the eSHC compared with usual care (clinic-based services) and evaluate its clinical safety, digital security and accessibility through:
A full-scale trial where 12 sexual health services (clinics and their affiliated online services) will be offered the eSHC alongside usual care (intervention phase) or offered usual care only (control phase). This will include a health inequalities assessment.
An economic evaluation assessing the cost-effectiveness of the eSHC for health services.
A process evaluation, comprising qualitative interviews with a sample of trial participants, to understand user experiences and satisfaction associated with using the eSHC.
1. Estcourt, C. S. et al. The eSexual Health Clinic system for management, prevention, and control of sexually transmitted infections: exploratory studies in people testing for Chlamydia trachomatis. Lancet Public Heal. 2, e182–e190 (2017).
REC name
London - Brighton & Sussex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/LO/0064
Date of REC Opinion
12 Apr 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion