The good people at Planned Parenthood have created a nifty online tool to help you figure out if you need to worry about sexually transmitted diseases. It's called “The Check”.
Okay, a couple of grumbles come up for me, right off the bat.
Snark #1: Isn't it about time that we all know that everyone should be concerned about STDs? Or at least, those of us who are sexually active?
I mean, after all, as it says right there at the top of the page: “Did you know that more than half of all Americans get a sexually transmitted disease or infection at some time in their lives?”
Snark #2: I took the little test – and it's only less than a minute's worth of questions – and I'm pretty clear that my own – ahem – checkered past isn't exactly the best for gauging the sensitivity and accuracy of this interactive questionnaire.
So in the interest of good journalism, I dutifully tweeted that I need assistance to figure out if this thing is really going to have impact beyond just being yet another fun little Internet pop quiz. I was hoping that among my small throng of followers, there'd be at least a few who didn't have history so sordid (and fun) that the end result won't always be “Your answers suggest that you may want to talk with a health care provider about testing...”
Funny. I didn't see a lot of retweeting going on, so I have no idea if they all ran over to The Check or not. Hm.
I don't know if this quiz is new or not, and that bugs me, too. I caught wind of it via Twitter just yesterday, and the page itself has no date details. Things like *when* health information is published versus when it's read isn't always crucial (like when a recent blogger described the Vagina Dialogues Survey -- published by the Association for Reproductive Health Professionals in 2003 -- as being "just completed"), but sometimes it matters.
Why does publication date matter? (Why am I just being extra super crotchety lately? But I digress...) Because stats on communicable illnesses change. If you're going to be telling folks whether or not they have something to worry about, you'd best be using the absolute latest data. Tables do turn and incidence rates do change. I suppose I could just trust that Planned Parenthood would only offer health care information that is absolutely updated, but I'm just jaded enough to want to see it in black & white numbers.
Okay, a couple of grumbles come up for me, right off the bat.
Snark #1: Isn't it about time that we all know that everyone should be concerned about STDs? Or at least, those of us who are sexually active?
I mean, after all, as it says right there at the top of the page: “Did you know that more than half of all Americans get a sexually transmitted disease or infection at some time in their lives?”
Snark #2: I took the little test – and it's only less than a minute's worth of questions – and I'm pretty clear that my own – ahem – checkered past isn't exactly the best for gauging the sensitivity and accuracy of this interactive questionnaire.
So in the interest of good journalism, I dutifully tweeted that I need assistance to figure out if this thing is really going to have impact beyond just being yet another fun little Internet pop quiz. I was hoping that among my small throng of followers, there'd be at least a few who didn't have history so sordid (and fun) that the end result won't always be “Your answers suggest that you may want to talk with a health care provider about testing...”
Funny. I didn't see a lot of retweeting going on, so I have no idea if they all ran over to The Check or not. Hm.
I don't know if this quiz is new or not, and that bugs me, too. I caught wind of it via Twitter just yesterday, and the page itself has no date details. Things like *when* health information is published versus when it's read isn't always crucial (like when a recent blogger described the Vagina Dialogues Survey -- published by the Association for Reproductive Health Professionals in 2003 -- as being "just completed"), but sometimes it matters.
Why does publication date matter? (Why am I just being extra super crotchety lately? But I digress...) Because stats on communicable illnesses change. If you're going to be telling folks whether or not they have something to worry about, you'd best be using the absolute latest data. Tables do turn and incidence rates do change. I suppose I could just trust that Planned Parenthood would only offer health care information that is absolutely updated, but I'm just jaded enough to want to see it in black & white numbers.
I did run over and try it out. :) My past too is checkered, and I got the expected result. lol
Posted by: Bailey | January 08, 2010 at 03:45 PM
Result: Your answers suggest that you may not need STD testing at this time.
Posted by: js | January 08, 2010 at 09:02 PM
Bailey -- Yay for joining in on the fuller disclosure life! JS -- it helps to be honest in the testing of such quizzes. ;)
Posted by: Tracy, Of course | January 09, 2010 at 11:51 PM