ACCESS TO GENITOURINARY MEDICINE SERVICES BY WOMEN ATTENDING A FAMILY-PLANNING CLINIC

The purpose of this study was to assess the need for genitourinary med icine (GUM) referral in family planning clinics (FPC) and to investiga te whether women were more Likely to attend an appointment if the cons ultation took place in the FPC or in the GUM clinic. A total of 98 wom en were referred from the FPC for GUM testing. They were randomly refe rred to be tested either in a local FPC or in the local GUM clinic. Si xty-three per cent of the 49 women randomized to be tested in the GUM clinic attended the consultation compared to 83% of the 49 women who a ttended the consultation in the FPC. This was statistically significan t (P<0.05). Twenty-six per cent of those attending the GUM clinic for testing and 29% of those women attending the FPC had a sexually transm itted disease (STD), that is, excluding candidiasis and bacterial vagi nosis. ?here was no statistical difference between the 2 groups. Full GUM testing was successfully carried out in the FPC setting. This stud y showed that women were less likely to attend for GUM testing if the consultation took place in the GUM clinic compared to the FPC. It is k nown that there is a need for GUM services to be accessible to FPC att enders (and vice versa). Further research is needed to determine why w omen are reluctant to attend GUM clinics.