Extragential screening
What you need to know
- Anyone who has sex can get an STI, but men who have sex with men (MSM) are more frequently impacted by HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, and other sexually transmitted infections.
- Despite this, STIs are preventable with the proper and consistent use of safe-sex precautions. Understanding how STIs are spread and ways to utilize preventative measures properly, as well as engaging in routine STI screening, is a proactive way in which an individual can protect themselves and their partners.
- Please take a moment to read the following information to learn more about available screening options, ways to prevent STIs, and nearby locations in which STI testing is available.
Extragenital testing
All STI screening tests act as an important tool to detect or rule out disease, but for those who engage in oral and/or anal sex, extra-genital testing is particularly important. Extra-genital screening refers to testing for STIs at specific sites of sexual contact (often the butt and throat), rather than just performing a urine or urethral swab test.
As rates of gonorrhea and chlamydia are increasing among MSM, increasing extragenital testing rates among MSM is a high-priority issue for the Utah Department of Health and Human Services. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), urine-only chlamydia and gonorrhea tests miss 70-88% of infections in MSM. Additionally, individuals with rectal gonorrhea infections often do not have symptoms (85% of the time), illustrating the growing need for routine extra-genital screening.
Below is a list of nearby testing sites that offer extra-genital testing along with other routine STI screening procedures.
STI testing sites
For more information on no/low-cost testing locations throughout the state of Utah, please visit our testing location page.