Does your College Campus GYT? Evaluating the Effect of a Social Marketing Campaign Designed to Raise STI Awareness and Encourage Testing.

Background: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) impose a considerable health and economic burden among college-aged students. College students report engaging in a number of high-risk behaviors, including having multiple sex partners, unprotected sex, and using drugs and binge drinking during sex. This pilot evaluation investigated the associations between STI testing and the GYT: Get Yourself Tested campaign exposure, a social marketing campaign developed to promote sexual health discussions, raise awareness around STIs/HIV, and encourage testing among youth.

Methods: During April 2011, 12 geographically dispersed colleges implemented the GYT campaign. Each implemented a brief survey and recorded STI testing data. A total of 1,386 students were surveyed. We tested for associations with GYT campaign awareness and STI testing behaviors. Chi-square and binary regression analyses tested for associations with GYT campaign awareness, STI testing behaviors, and STI test results. Hierarchical linear models accounted for students nested within schools.

Results: Students presenting for STI testing were more likely to have heard of GYT than students not doing so; campuses hosting promotional events had higher proportions of students aware of GYT. These colleges, however, did not have higher proportions of students getting tested. Chlamydia positivity averaged 3.1%, and an estimated $26,000 in direct medical costs and $24,000 in lost productivity costs were averted by STI testing and treatment.

Conclusions: Pre-packaged STI testing campaigns may serve as successful tools for colleges interested in promoting and increasing STI/HIV awareness, testing, and treatment. At the individual level, GYT awareness was related to testing, but the effects for school efforts need further exploration.