SCREENING FOR CHLAMYDIA IN GENERAL-PRACTICE - A LITERATURE-REVIEW ANDSUMMARY OF THE EVIDENCE

Genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection is the commonest curable sexua lly transmitted disease (STD) in England and Wales and is one of the c hief causes of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) in women. Infection i n women is complicated by the fact that the majority of women with thi s infection are asymptomatic. It is feasible for general practitioners (GPs) to test for this infection, and there has been debate as to whi ch is the most appropriate screening strategy. In the absence of any n ational UK guidelines, the purpose of this systematic literature revie w is to appraise critically and summarize the evidence for screening f or genital chlamydia infection in sexually active women attending UK g eneral practice. The four areas to be reviewed are: prevalence of geni tal chlamydia infection in women attending UK general practice; eviden ce for routine screening of women attending general practice; evidence for selective screening of women attending general practice; evidence for screening women requesting termination of pregnancy (TOP) or intr auterine device (IUD) insertion. This review should allow GPs and publ ic health practitioners to become aware of the quality of evidence und erlying various screening strategies and inform any local guideline de velopment.