With whom did you have sex? Evaluation of a partner notification training for STI professionals using motivational interviewing

Objective: To enhance partner notification (PN) practices in Dutch STI clinics, a PN training using motivational interviewing as core strategy was offered to STI professionals and evaluated. Methods: The effectiveness of PN training on professionals' attitude, self-efficacy, skills and behavior toward PN, was examined using within-subject and between-subject comparison. Before the training and at three months follow-up, a questionnaire was completed by the intervention group (n = 54) and a non-random control group (n = 37). Results: In the within-subject comparison, positive changes were observed in self-efficacy, skills, and PN behaviors (all p <.05), but not in attitudes toward PN. When we examined differences in change-scores between the intervention and control group, self-efficacy was no longer significant. Conclusion: The PN training significantly improved PN skills and -behavior, but had no effect on professionals' attitudes or self-efficacy toward PN. The selection of a convenience control sample seems to offer a more rigorous test of hypotheses than pre-post evaluation only. Practice implications: The beneficial effect of PN training of STI professionals seems to support a wider roll-out of the training to all STI clinics in the Netherlands, although effects on the number of partners notified and transmissions prevented need to be examined in future research. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved