Cases of syphilis among men who have sex with men continue to rise despite regular syphilis screening and contact tracing. MSM who practise receptive anal sex are almost four times more likely to present with secondary syphilis rather than primary syphilis. Three-monthly PrEP clinic appointments for syphilis screening alone have failed to detect a proportion of primary and secondary syphilis infections. Therefore, additional strategies are required for syphilis control.
What is the DARE Study?
The DARE Study is a research study examining whether men who regularly self-examine their anus would be able to detect primary syphilis through self-identifying lesions or chancres.
The DARE Study is conducted at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre and has been approved by the Alfred Hospital Ethics Committee. You will be reimbursed for your time participating in this study.
If you are a man who practises receptive anal sex with male partners, we would love to hear from you!
About the study
The DARE Study is a cohort study of weekly self-examination of the anorectal area to detect symptoms related to syphilis in MSM. The study will follow a group of MSM over a 48-week period.
Who we want to talk to
Our research team will contact you during your visit to Melbourne Sexual Health Centre if you:
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are 18 years or older
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have had receptive anal sex with a man in the last 12 months
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are not currently performing anorectal self-examination regularly
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are not enrolled into other research studies or trials on syphilis prevention
For the time you spend participating in this study, you will be compensated with $50 Coles Myer voucher at Week 24 and $50 Coles Myer voucher at the completion of the study
What's involved
If you agree to participate in this study, a research nurse will show you a video on how to perform your own anal examination. You will also be given an instruction sheet showing you how to perform an anal examination.
After your first self-examination on the day of enrolment, we will send you a text message to confirm whether you identified any concerns around your anus.
We will then ask you to examine your anal area every week.
We will send you a text message each week to remind you to undertake the anal examinations. If you find any areas of concern, we will ask you to contact us and we will book you a free appointment to attend so a doctor can examine the area you are concerned about.
We will ask you to attend the clinic every 3 months for tests.
What else is involved?
We will also ask you to complete some surveys. The first survey will ask about your previous experiences of anal examination and your sexual practices (such as being rimmed and receptive anal sex) and sexual history with syphilis. We will also send you a survey at week 12, 24, 36, and at week 48 (end of the study).
How to do an anal self-examination DARE study
This video provides details on how to do an anal self-examination.
Ethics
All research in Australia involving humans is reviewed by an independent group of people called a Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC). The ethical aspects of this research project have been approved by the Alfred Hospital HREC.
This project will be carried out according to the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2007). This statement has been developed to protect the interests of people who agree to participate in human research studies. Approval has been given by the Alfred Hospital HREC which reviews ethics applications for research carried out at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre.