Safe sex practices reduce your risk of getting an STI. These practices include using a condom or dental dam during sexual intercourse or oral sex and cleaning sex toys between users. Even when using a condom, not all STIs can be completely prevented. STIs such as chlamydia, gonorrhoea, trichomoniasis, and mycoplasma genitalium can be prevented using condoms or dental dams during sex. Genital warts, syphilis, and herpes can enter your body through your skin. Pubic lice or scabies can also be transmitted through skin-to-skin contact or pubic hair. Using a condom or dental dam will not always protect against these STIs if the affected area is not covered by a condom. HIV, syphilis, and Hepatitis B and C are transmissible through blood. This means that in order to become infected, body fluids such as blood, vaginal fluids, semen, or breast milk that contain the virus must enter the bloodstream. This can happen in various ways, such as through open sores, needle stick injuries, sharing needles, pregnancy and childbirth, or tears in the skin that occur during sexual contact. One cannot catch hepatitis or HIV through activities like hugging, sharing eating utensils, or sneezing/coughing. HIV can be avoided by using PReP before potential exposure, or PEP after being exposed. Hepatitis B can be prevented through vaccination. Men who have sex with men, sex workers, and children born after January 1, 2011 can get vaccinated against Hepatitis B for free in the Netherlands. If you have symptoms that could be an STI or if you have had sex with someone who has an STI, be sure to get tested. You should get tested even if you had sex with a condom.

The STI test is not suitable for people under the age of 18. If you are under the age of 18 and would like to get tested for STIs, please contact the GGD in your municipality or your GP. It is also advised not to take this test during the window period for STIs. The window period is the time between the moment of infection (such as after unprotected sex) and when the infection can be detected by a test. If you have taken an STI test before the window period is over and have tested negative, it is advised to test again after the window period.

If you have many or often changing sexual partners, or if you meet certain risk factors for HIV and/or other STIs, we advise you to get tested every six months. For example, because you are a sex worker. Additionally, you should consider getting tested if you’ve had or are considering having unprotected sex with a new partner (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2021).

All Homed-IQ tests are entirely anonymous and do not require any direct contact with your GP.

Would you like to test the throat or anus area for STIs? This is done through a swab test. Not all STIs can be detected using a swab test- for other tests you will need to take a urine sample, vaginal swab, or a blood sample. If you are interested in doing a throat or anal STI test, complete our STI Test Guide to see which STIs you are recommended to test for and which test products are recommended. Do you have questions about how to take each type of test? Find instructional videos on how to take a test sample in the blog: "How to carry out and STI-Test".

Our self-sampling tests are completely approved for home use. The tests have been validated by our lab to see if the results from samples taken at home are as accurate as samples taken in a doctor’s office or clinic. It is only legal to sell validated medical tests. Each Homed-IQ test is processed in a laboratory that is ISO15189 certified, which enables us to guarantee the reliability of all our tests.

The biggest advantage of this test is that you can easily take the test yourself at home. Using a self-test, you do not have to visit your GP or a clinic and still can obtain laboratory-certified, fast test results. With Homed-IQ, you may test yourself completely anonymously and perform the test at a time that suits you best.

All Homed-IQ self-sampling tests are scientifically certified for home use. This means they have been tested to see if the results of samples taken at home are as accurate as samples taken in a lab or doctor’s office. It is not allowed to sell unvalidated medical tests. Furthermore, our medical team reviews all results and is available to answer any questions from our customers.

No, at this time Homed-IQ does not have any reimbursement agreements with health insurers. In the Netherlands, if you test through the GGD because you fall into a risk group, testing for an STI is free. The cost of testing for STIs at the GP will be deducted from your health insurance deductible (own risk). The coverage of subsequent costs depends on your health insurance. Ask your health insurance company what exactly is covered. Are you not in a risk group or is it too busy at the GGD? Then you can test at your GP or with Homed-IQ. Currently, Homed-IQ has no agreements with health insurers.

In the Netherlands, it is possible to get tested for free at the GGD until the age of 25 or if you fall into a risk group. Individuals older than 25 or who are not in a risk group can get tested at the GP or using a home test such as what Homed-IQ offers. While home STI testing is an alternative way to perform a laboratory test, it does not replace the advice of a doctor. Homed-IQ is unable to offer physical examinations, prescribe treatment, (other than chlamydia treatment for Netherlands residents) or provide follow-up STI care. If you test positive for an STI using a Homed-IQ test, take your test result to your GP for further advice and follow-up.

Homed-IQ’s STI tests offer the same laboratory-certified results you would receive if you had an STI test done through your GP or a sexual health clinic. Homed-IQ works with the same labs that provide tests for clinics, and strives to provide your results quickly and confidentially. STI rapid tests that are available at e.g. the drugstore are often not reliable and may result in a false negative or false positive result.

Your test results come with an explanation of the results as well as a downloadable laboratory report. This report can be taken to a GP for further testing, treatment, and guidance. Homed-IQ provides prescriptions for chlamydia treatment to customers who are residents of the Netherlands. If you are a customer in the Netherlands and test positive for chlamydia, contactmedicalsupport@homediq.comto arrange a prescription. For customers in the Netherlands, Homed-IQ works with OneTwoDigital, a digital GP office. OneTwoDigital can further help with STI-related complaints. The care, as with your own GP, is reimbursed by your health insurance company.

Homed-IQ test kits do not have customer names or information on them for privacy reasons. This means in order to link your test to your account, you must activate the test using the unique 12-digit test code before mailing it to the lab. The laboratory cannot process your test results or send them to you unless your test is activated.

Have you tested positive for an STI? Be sure to inform your recent sex partners. This is how you make sure they avoid complications from an untreated STI, prevent passing the STI to others, and avoid passing the STI back to you (if you are still having sex). It is usually advised to tell the people you have had sex within the past 6 months. However, sometimes it is also necessary to tell partners from longer ago. Speak to your GP about who you should inform. You may be nervous about telling someone you're having sex with that you have an STI. You can do this in several ways:

• Telling them yourself via a phone, email, or in-person conversation
• Anonymously warn them via partnerwaarschuwing.nl  (in the Netherlands) or wir-ruhr.de (in Germany). Using these services you can tell someone to get tested without making your identity known.
• Ask your GP or the nurse at an STI clinic to let people you have had sex with know that you tested positive for an STI

Whichever method you use to choose, it is always a good idea to inform past partners about STIs. They can then get tested and treated if necessary.