Survey Finds Chlamydia Screening Inadequate

According to a recent study, two-thirds of U.S. doctors do not perform recommended chlamydia screenings on sexually active young women. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Center for Research on Health Care (UP, PA, USA), was published in the March issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Failure to detect chlamydia can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, ectopic pregnancy, and chronic pelvic pain. It is the most common bacterial sexually transmitted disease in the United States. Depending on the setting, 1-20% of sexually active young women have chlamydia, with an average of about 3%, but 80% have no symptoms.

The researchers surveyed more than 800 primary care doctors, asking what tests they would conduct during a routine gynecologic exam of a sexually active 19-year-old woman with no symptoms. Only one-third indicated they would test for chlamydia. However, female doctors, doctors in public clinics and academic settings, and doctors in metropolitan areas or in areas with a large proportion of minority patients were more likely to screen for the disease.

"Physicians may need to be educated about the disease and the need for chlamydia screenings in all sexually active young women,” said Robert Cook, M.P.H., assistant professor of medicine at UP School of Medicine, who participated in the survey. "If measures aren't taken, many young women's reproductive health could be jeopardized.”



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University of Pittsburgh Center for Research on Health Care