Associated factors of willingness to undergo routine chlamydia trachomatis screening among hospital-based patients in Shenzhen, China: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) is a common sexually transmitted infection (STI) with significant morbidity. The study aimed to explore the willingness to undergo routine CT screening and its associated factors among hospital-based patients in Shenzhen. METHODS: We used data from the Shenzhen Gonorrhea and Chlamydia Intervention Programme. Participants were recruited with a stratified purposeful sampling design from 1 April 2018 to 16 May 2018. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain data on baseline characteristics and CT-related participant information. RESULTS: Of the 16,546 participants, 64.79% were women, with a mean age of 31.85 ± 7.31 of all participants. Of the participants, 88.78% were willing to undergo routine CT screening. According to multivariate logistic regression analyses, willingness to undergo routine CT screening was associated with the following (P < 0.05): being a woman (AOR = 1.53, 95% CI = 1.34–1.75), one year or more residency in Shenzhen (AOR = 1.64, 95% CI = 1.37–1.95), any secondary education (AOR = 2.46, 95% CI = 1.92–3.15), monthly income ≥ RMB 10,000 (AOR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.01–1.51), having forgotten CT diagnosis history (AOR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.12–1.79), without current STI-related symptoms (AOR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.10–1.41), and having correct understanding of the sequelae of CT infection (AOR = 1.68, 95% CI = 1.39–2.03). CONCLUSION: This study reported high willingness to undergo routine CT screening among hospital-based patients in Shenzhen, and provided evidence for the promotion and the implementation of strategies and recommendations on routine CT screening in China. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-020-09828-6.