Predictors ofChlamydia trachomatisInfection Among WomenAttending Rural Midwest Family Planning Clinics

[摘要] Objective:To determine predictors ofChlamydia trachomatisinfection among women 14–24 years of ageattending family planning clinics throughout a rural Midwestern state.Methods:The study population included 16 756 women between the ages of 14 and 24 years attending familyplanning clinics for annual examinations throughout the state of Iowa in 1997. All women under 25 years of agehaving annual exams were tested forC. trachomatisduring the visit. At the time of exam, both behavioral anddemographic data were collected on all women participating in the study.Results:The majority of women in the study (96%) reported no symptoms of chlamydia. Only 2.5% of all womenhad a positive test result. In the multivariate model, the odds ratios were significantly increased among the youngestage (14–17 years; OR = 2.2), those with mucopurulent cervicitis (OR = 3.4), cervical friability (OR = 2.2),symptomatic for infection (OR = 1.8), risk history (OR = 1.6), and black race (OR = 1.2) and predictive of aC. trachomatisinfection.Conclusions:Risk factors predictive ofC. trachomatisinfection among younger aged women attending familyplanning clinics in a Midwest rural population are consistent with predictors of infection among women attendingfamily planning clinics across theUnited States. The overall findings suggest the importance of developing screeningguidelines as a means of lowering chlamydia rates. This may be a particularly difficult task in light of the low rate ofsymptoms that would lead a woman to seek medical care, even in younger age women who are at higher risk. Inaddition, screening guidelines would be more difficult to implement in a rural setting.

[学科分类] 妇产科学