What’s involved
Information for clinics participating in the MoCCA Study
What is MoCCA?
MoCCA is a five-year project funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (APP1150014) that seeks to address gaps in chlamydia management in Australian general practice. In particular, MoCCA focuses on improving testing for repeat infection within recommended timeframes, improving partner management, and increasing clinician confidence in diagnosing PID. The research team is based at the University of Melbourne.
Why is MoCCA needed?
Chlamydia trachomatis is the most commonly diagnosed bacterial sexually transmissible infection worldwide. In Australia over 100,000 chlamydia infections were diagnosed in 2019, affecting 1 in 20 young people. Chlamydia can have serious complications; 17% of cases lead to pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) equating to over 30,000 cases yearly in Australia. Untreated PID can lead to infertility in women. Chlamydia screening is widely promoted to reduce chlamydia transmission and the risk of PID.
Chlamydia reinfection rates among Australian women are high (22% per year) and this is a worry because the risk of PID is up to four times higher in women who become re-infected. This highlights the importance of preventing re-infections. Notifying and treating the sexual partners of a person diagnosed with chlamydia can help prevent re-infection.
General practice is a crucial setting for chlamydia control because most chlamydia cases in Australia are diagnosed here. However, recent evidence from the Australian Chlamydia Control Effectiveness Pilot study showed that in addition to testing, we need to improve the management of chlamydia once diagnosed.
The key strategies of effective chlamydia management are enhanced partner management, timely retesting after treatment and diagnosis of complications.
What does participation involve?
Clinics will be asked to implement interventions designed to strengthen management of genital chlamydia infections. These interventions focus on partner management, retesting within recommended timeframes, and increasing clinician confidence in diagnosing PID.
Specifically, GPs and other relevant staff will be asked to:
- Attend clinic meetings with the research team via Zoom or in person
- Use the MoCCA website and interventions for chlamydia care (you can find those here!)
- Provide feedback about the use of the interventions through participation in short anonymous polls/surveys, or participate in a brief interview with the research team.
Participating clinics will be reimbursed $2000.
