| Summary: | As the target year for Global Elimination of Trachoma (GET2020) approaches, the scale up of mass drug administration (MDA) with azithromycin will lead to more endemic areas becoming low prevalence settings. In such areas, identification of those at highest risk of Chlamydia trachomatis infection and at highest risk of non-participation during MDA could inform control planning, especially if correlation is present. We investigated non-participation in children aged 1–9 years during three annual MDAs in The Gambia, a low prevalence setting. We found evidence that non-participation is associated with household membership and decision-making, as seen in medium and high prevalence settings in East Africa. In addition, we demonstrate geographical heterogeneity (spatial clustering) of non-participation, persistent non-participation behaviour over time and different non-participator types. Between the first and third MDA, non-participation increased significantly overall from 6.2% to 10.4%, whilst spatial clusters became smaller with non-participation more focused in single households or small groups of households. There was no evidence of association between infection and non-participation. In low prevalence settings with no evidence to suggest non-participation as a risk factor for infection, resources to improve participation may not be required. Spatial hotspot analysis could address this research question in areas with more infection.
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