Screening females for gonorrhea
Canadian Family Physician Medecin De Famille Canadien
|February 4, 2011
Summary
Routine gonorrhea culturing is not recommended for low-incidence populations. Instead, assess patient risk through gynecologic functional inquiry for gonorrhea detection.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Infectious Diseases
- Gynecology
Background:
- Gonorrhea screening guidelines often recommend routine testing for specific populations.
- Low incidence settings present unique challenges for the cost-effectiveness of universal screening.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the utility of routine gonorrhea culturing in low incidence populations.
- To propose an alternative, risk-based approach for gonorrhea detection.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of gonorrhea screening practices.
- Analysis of clinical data from authors' practice in a low incidence setting.
- Development of a risk assessment model based on gynecologic functional inquiry.
Main Results:
- Routine gonorrhea culturing demonstrated low yield in low incidence populations.
- Examples from literature and clinical practice support the inefficacy of routine culturing.
- A risk-based assessment using gynecologic functional inquiry is proposed as a viable alternative.
Conclusions:
- Routine gonorrhea culturing is not indicated in low incidence settings.
- A targeted, risk-stratified approach to gonorrhea detection is more appropriate and efficient.
- Gynecologic functional inquiry can effectively identify individuals at higher risk for gonorrhea.
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