The six questions that could reveal if you have a STD

A new online quiz claims to be able to predict your risk of sexually transmitted disease – with just six short questions.

Developed by scientists at Johns Hopkins University, the quiz evaluates behaviors linked to STD risk.

It asks about the number of sex partners, the frequency of condom use, and the age and past infection status of respondents.

Dr Charlotte Gaydos, professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases, said: ‘We test a lot of people who are not infected, and although a tool like this might not predict every single case, we think it can be helpful in rapidly predicting the likelihood of an STI for physicians and patients.’

The quiz was first developed to supplement a home STD testing kit campaign for teens.

Scientists made the quiz available to nearly 3,200 people age 14 and over, who are from Maryland and Washington, D.C.

People who accessed the STD testing kit website were invited to take a mailed or online risk quiz, in addition to ordering a free home kit.

Nearly half of those invited to take the quiz took it – 830 females and 550 males, with an average age of 20 to 24 years old.

The quizzes were scored on a scale of zero to 10.

Female participants were considered to be ‘high risk’ if they scored between eight to 10 points.

Conversely, men were ‘high risk’ at seven to 10 points.

‘Medium risk’ fell in the five to seven point range for women, and three to six for men.

But if women scored zero to four points, and men scored zero to two, they were considered to be ‘low risk.’

Women were scored differently than men because ‘females tend to have higher rates’ of STDs than men, according to the researchers.

Scientists suspected that the higher the score, the more likely a respondent would be to test positive for a STD using the home testing kit.

All of the questions were weighted differently based on evidence associating a particular behavior with STDs.

For instance, questions about condom use and number of sexual partners were weighted higher than those about past positive test results or age.

The respondents were mailed a home collection test kit.

That kit included a penile, vaginal or rectal swab that they could use and send free of charge to the Johns Hopkins laboratory.

There, the samples were tested for chlamydia, gonorrhea or trichomonas.

Dr Gaydos selected those three infections because they are easily screened for and treated – while other infections, such as HIV and syphilis, require blood testing.

The results showed a higher rate of STDs in women than men – 14 per cent compared to seven per cent.

The quiz also predicted that women who scored in the high- or medium- risk categories were four and two times more likely to have a STD than those who scored lower.

In total, 117 of the female participants had at least one of three STDs, compared to 29 men, according to Dr Gaydos.

The ‘pop quiz’ accurately predicted STDs in women – but not men.

Dr Gaydos said: ‘We are not sure why this is – but untruthfulness or the fact that men tend to have lower STIs are posisbilities.’

The scientists plan to conduct follow-up research to increase the accuracy of the quiz for men and women.

The research was published in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections. 

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