Criteria for selective screening of cervical Chlamydia trachomatis infections in women attending private gynecology practices

Objective: To develop a screening strategy for Chlamydia trachomatis in pri vate gynecology practices. Study design: Forty-six gynecologists in the gre ater Paris area systematically screened all consecutive female attenders du ring one week. Endocervical swabs were tested by enzyme immunoassay, and, i f positive, was further confirmed by direct fluorescent antibody test. Resu lts: Overall (out of 1893 women tested), the chlamydia prevalence was 0.8% (95% confidence interval: 0.32-1.2%). Among women younger than 21 years, th e prevalence was 5.2% (95%, CI 0.8-9.6). Having had a new sexual partner in the last year was associated with chlamydial infection, independent of age . However, half of the infected women had not had a new partner. Conclusion : Even in this low risk population, the prevalence was high among young wom en. Most of these infections would probably not have been detected. We deve loped a strategy which would have detected 81% of chlamydia positive women by testing only one third of the patients. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Irelan d Ltd. All rights reserved.