ON THE NEED TO SCREEN FOR CHLAMYDIA AND GONORRHEA INFECTIONS PRIOR TOCOLPOSCOPY IN ADOLESCENTS

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to explore the association of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) with cervical biopsy and to examine whether screening for Chlamydia and gonorrhea infections within 2 wee ks prior to colposcopy is a standard clinical practice among adolescen ts' care providers in the United States. Methods: An anonymous questio nnaire was distributed to U.S. physicians and nurses who are members o f the Society for Adolescent Medicine, and/or the North American Socie ty for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. Results: A total of 368, f rom all the states in America, responded. Only 5% of the respondents h ave encountered biopsy-associated PID owing to Chlamydia and/or gonorr hea. The incidence rate of biopsy-associated PID reported by the respo ndents to this survey was approximately 1:1000 colposcopic biopsies. F ifteen percent of the respondents screen their adolescent patients, an d 23% favor screening for Chlamydia and gonorrhea infections within 2 weeks prior to colposcopy. Previous experience with colposcopy and pre vious encounters with biopsyassociated PID in adolescents did not sign ificantly affect the practice or the opinion of the respondents. Concl usions: Screening for Chlamydia and gonorrhea infections within 2 week s prior to colposcopy in adolescents is presently not a common clinica l practice among U.S. adolescents' care providers. Because of the pote ntial risk of biopsy-associated PID, it is advisable to minimize the i nterval between Chlamydia and gonorrhea screening and colposcopy in ad olescents. (C) Society for Adolescent Medicine, 1997.