• James Ward, Skye McGregor, Rebecca J Guy, Alice R Rumbold, Linda Garton, Bronwyn J Silver, Debbie Taylor-Thomson, Belinda Hengel, Janet Knox, Amalie Dyda, Matthew G Law, Handan Wand, Basil Donovan, Christopher K Fairley, Steven Skov, Donna Ah Chee, John Boffa, David Glance, Robyn McDermott, Lisa Maher, and John M Kaldor.
• Baker IDI, Alice Springs, Northern Territory 0870, Australia. jward@bakeridi.edu.au.
• Bmc Infect Dis. 2013 Jan 1;13:425.

BackgroundDespite two decades of interventions, rates of sexually transmissible infections (STI) in remote Australian Aboriginal communities remain unacceptably high. Routine notifications data from 2011 indicate rates of chlamydia and gonorrhoea among Aboriginal people in remote settings were 8 and 61 times higher respectively than in the non-Indigenous population.Methods/DesignSTRIVE is a stepped-wedge cluster randomised trial designed to compare a sexual health quality improvement program (SHQIP) to usual STI clinical care delivered in remote primary health care services. The SHQIP is a multifaceted intervention comprising annual assessments of sexual health service delivery, implementation of a sexual health action plan, six-monthly clinical service activity data reports, regular feedback meetings with a regional coordinator, training and financial incentive payments. The trial clusters comprise either a single community or several communities grouped together based on geographic proximity and cultural ties. The primary outcomes are: prevalence of chlamydia, gonorrhoea and trichomonas in Aboriginal residents aged 16-34 years, and performance in clinical management of STIs based on best practice indicators. STRIVE will be conducted over five years comprising one and a half years of trial initiation and community consultation, three years of trial conditions, and a half year of data analysis. The trial was initiated in 68 remote Aboriginal health services in the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia.DiscussionSTRIVE is the first cluster randomised trial in STI care in remote Aboriginal health services. The trial will provide evidence to inform future culturally appropriate STI clinical care and control strategies in communities with high STI rates.Trial RegistrationAustralian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12610000358044.

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