IUD USERS IN NORWAY ARE AT LOW-RISK FOR GENITAL C-TRACHOMATIS INFECTION

From May 1993 to April 1995, 30 general practitioners located at 13 ge neral practice settings in the city of Trondheim, central Norway, recr uited 957 eligible participants in a prospective use-effectiveness stu dy on performance of two copper IUDs. In this report we focus on scree ning for C. trachomatis at insertion and its possible effect on cause related terminations during the first 90 days after insertion. All wom en were screened at IUD insertion for C. trachomatis. All specimens we re analyzed applying a nucleic acid test (rRNA, GenProbe). Five out of 957 women (0.5%) were positive for C. trachomatis. All were treated w ithin two weeks of diagnosis. No cases of pelvic inflammatory disease were diagnosed during the first three months of the study. Screening f or C. trachomatis at IUD insertion is not recommended in Norwegian wom en because of the extremely low prevalence of C. trachomatis in those who choose IUD as their primary contraceptive method. Recommendations for universally screening women for sexually transmitted diseases at I UD insertion should be based upon review of local/national prevalence data. (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Inc.