 |
|
Screen for Chlamydia
Brian Vastag
JAMA. 2001;285:2439.
|
|
| Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings. |
|
|
|
Primary care physicians should screen all sexually active women aged 25 and younger, and others at high risk, for infection with Chlamydia trachomatis, which affects an estimated 3 million women and men each year. The recommendation (available at http://www.ahcpr.gov/clinic/uspstf/uspschlm.htm) was made by the United States Preventive Services Task Force, which said new urine tests make such screening more feasible than before.
The task force, an independent panel of prevention experts, found good evidence that screening reduces the incidence of pelvic inflammatory disease, which can lead to infertility, and fair evidence that community-based screening reduces the prevalence of chlamydia infection. Furthermore, recent studies show that many at-risk women are not being screened. One survey of 546 physicians found that only 32% said they would screen asymptomatic sexually active young women (J Adolesc Health. 2001;28:204-10). A 1997 study of four large health plans reported that only 2% . . . [Full Text of this Article]
|
