Getting Test Results
Waiting for Results
Most STI test results come back from the lab within seven to ten days. When you get tested, talk with your health care provider about how you will get your results. Find out if you can call in, or need to return for your test results. If you cannot be contacted by phone, talk with your health care provider about how you will get your results.
If you have symptoms or are taking treatment, it is important to avoid any sexual contact until you and your partners have finished the treatment. Ask your health care provider about when it is OK to have sex.
If Your Test Results are Negative
If you get a negative test result, it means that the tests did not find an STI.
Each STI has a ‘window period’. This is the time between when a person comes in contact with an STI, and when the STI will show up on a test. If the test is taken too soon after contact there is a chance that a test result is not accurate. You may be asked to come back to be retested after the window period is over.
If Your Test Results are Positive
If you get a positive test result, it means that you have an STI and need treatment.
In BC, positive test results for reportable STIs are shared with public health to ensure that you and your partners are offered support and treatment.
Reportable STIs
In BC, syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia and HIV are examples of reportable infections. When lab tests for these sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are positive, these results are reported to the local medical health officer to help prevent the spread of communicable infections. This information is stored securely to keep it confidential.
When you are diagnosed with a reportable STI, anyone you have had sexual contact with or shared drug equipment with needs to be notified that they have been exposed to a communicable infection. This is called ‘contact tracing’ or ‘partner notification’. It is important that partners who may also have the infection get treated so that they do not pass it to others or pass it back to you, and to reduce the chance of longer-term health problems.
A health care provider (such as your doctor or a public health nurse) will ask about past and present sexual partners, and anyone you have shared drug equipment with. The health care provider will then develop a plan with you on how to notify these sexual partners and/or drug contacts. They can also help you decide the best way to let partners know they need to get tested.
Partners can be told by you, a health care provider, or anonymously. You can talk with your health care provider about who should be informed and what is the best way to let them know.
If you choose to ask a health care provider to contact your partners, your name or other personal information will not be used. The health care provider will tell the person they may have an STI and encourage them to come in for testing and treatment.
Confidentiality & How Your Information is Protected
Any information shared with a health care provider is confidential, including test results. When you go for STI testing, you may be asked for personal information such as your name, birth date, Medical Services Plan (BC Care Card) number, contact information (like phone number, address and email) and health history. This information is used to give the best health care, order tests and to contact you about the results.
All the health authorities in BC and the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) are governed by privacy laws. Privacy and data security are important and are taken very seriously. Personal information is kept secure and is not accessible to the public. For more information, please see the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of BC.
Where is STI Testing Information Stored?
All test results: Any electronic or paper records of negative and positive test results are kept at your health care provider’s office.
Information about lab tests is routinely stored in laboratory databases where the specimens are process or tested. In BC, lab results are also kept in a provincial laboratory system called the Provincial Laboratory Information System (PLIS). The purpose of this electronic health (e-health) record is so that your health care provider will be able to see relevant parts of your health care record.
For more information about e-health systems in BC including PLIS, and more options for controlling access to your health information in these systems, please visit eHealth, Ministry of Health.
Positive test results: In BC, the Communicable Disease Regulation of the Public Health Act legally requires a lab and/or a physician to report any case of infectious disease, including some sexually transmitted infections (STIs), to the Medical Health Officer (MHO) of the appropriate health authority. This reporting is done so that public health nurses can offer support to a person with a new diagnosis, ensure the notification and testing of partners and monitor the number of new infections. These results are kept in provincial and regional health authority electronic information systems.
In BC, STIs that must be reported include:
- Chlamydia
- Gonorrhea
- Syphilis
- HIV
- Hepatitis A, B and C
Within these databases, access to information is based on the health care provider’s role and whether they need the information in order to provide care or to carry out their legislated functions under the Public Health Act.
Contacting Partners about Testing
If you have a reportable STI, your health care provider will talk with you about how you want to tell your sexual partners. The purpose is to get people tested and treated and to stop the STI from being passed on to other partners.
Youth and Confidentiality
If you are under the age of 19, you can get confidential health care if a health care provider considers you old enough to make your own decisions about your health. This means your health care provider must keep your information private. They cannot contact your parents or guardians without your permission.
There are some exceptions to confidentiality for youth. If you, or any other youth under 19, are being harmed or are at risk of harm, the health care provider is required by law to report it to the proper authorities. This law is meant to help keep youth and children safe from abuse.
Many youth choose to go to youth clinics. These clinics offer free STI testing to youth – many youth clinics service people under the age of 24, but call the youth clinic nearest to you to find out the age cut-off.