ArticlePublic health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)2026
Barriers to and Facilitators of Expedited Partner Therapy in US Emergency Departments: A Qualitative Study.
Article in Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
- Update of
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesExpedited partner therapy (EPT) provides treatment or prescriptions for the sexual partners of patients with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) without requiring a clinical visit, and it is recommended for partners who might not seek care otherwise. Despite its public health importance, EPT has had limited uptake in emergency departments (EDs). We assessed barriers to and facilitators of EPT that could assist in increasing its use in EDs.
methodsFrom July 2020 through February 2021, we conducted semistructured virtual interviews with 18 ED medical directors and key medical personnel from US institutions that offer or were interested in offering EPT, as identified through previous research. We developed and piloted an interview guide based on the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. We recorded, transcribed, and analyzed interviews using thematic analysis. We developed themes through iterative coding and team discussion.
resultsParticipant-reported barriers to implementing EPT included perceived legal liability, unclear clinical workflows, electronic health record challenges when prescribing for a nonpatient, ambiguity about duty to the sexual partner, concerns about patient safety, and sexual health stigma. Facilitators were defined as task sharing, streamlined electronic health record processes, and leadership support. Participants emphasized the ED's potential to expand access to care for populations at high risk for STIs, provided that EPT implementation did not disrupt clinical operations.
conclusionsUnderstanding barriers to and facilitators of EPT in EDs can inform the development of effective implementation strategies. While nontraditional prescribing processes pose challenges to routine adoption of EPT, experiences from EDs with established protocols suggest that these obstacles can be overcome.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.