Impact of prescription-free access to sexually transmitted infection screening tests in medical-biological laboratories: cross-sectional analysis of data from clinical laboratories in France
crwdns5116:0
Andres Gil-Salcedo , Vincent Gazzano, Stephanie Arsene, Agnes Durand, Steven Roger, Laurence Prots, Nathalie Laurencin, Emmanuel Chanard, Alexis Duez, Erwan Le Naour, Olivier Bausset, Benoist Ghali, Anne-Claire Strzelecki, Claire Felloni, Romuald Levillain, Cecile Fargeat, Sebastien Lefrancois, Delphine Feuerstein, Benoit Visseaux, Laurent Escudie, Claire Visseaux, Charles Leclerc, and Stéphanie Haïm-Boukobzacrwdne5116:0
crwdns5092:0crwdne5092:0
April 24, 2026
crwdns5094:0crwdne5094:0
medRxiv
Background
Since September 2024, France has implemented a national reform allowing prescription-free access (PFA) to sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening in medical biological laboratories (MBLs). This study aims to characterize the populations undergoing STI testing according to their access modality and evaluate the probability of test positivity in relation to testing pathway, sex, and age groups.
Methods
We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of all individuals screened for Chlamydia trachomatis , Gonorrhoea, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and syphilis by treponemal-specific immunoassay (TSI) in Cerballiance MBLs between Mars 2025 and February 2026. Multivariable logistic regression models stratified by sex and adjusted for age and region assessed associations between screening modality and STI positivity.
Results
Among 1,008,737 individuals included, 27.8% were under PFA and 72.2 under prescription-based access (PBA). PFA users were more frequently male (47.4% vs. 36.3%, p<0.001) and aged 20-39 years (34.0%, p<0.001). Overall positivity rates differed by modality: PFA was associated with higher detection of Chlamydia (4.6% vs. 3.6%). PBA group showed more positive cases of syphilis (3.4% vs. 1.2%), HBV (1.3% vs. 0.4%), and HIV infections (0.3% vs. 0.2%, all p<0.001). Co-infection and gonorrhoea proportions did not significantly differ between modalities.
Conclusions
PFA substantially increased STI screening uptake, particularly among young adults and men, and enhanced detection of bacterial STIs. PBA remains essential for diagnosing viral and chronic infections. These findings highlight the complementary roles of both access strategies and support PFA screening as an effective public health intervention to broaden STI detection and reduce transmission.