Antenatal sexually transmitted infection screening in private and indigent clinics in a community hospital system

To determine whether clinics that serve indigent patients demonstrate equal compliance with sexually transmitted infection testing guidelines when compared with private clinics.

One hundred eighty-three women were divided into cohorts based on whether they received prenatal care at a private or indigent clinic. Timing of required antenatal sexually transmitted infection screening was collected for 8 tests and compliance scores were calculated. Primary outcome was average compliance score compared between clinic types. Secondary outcomes included disease-specific compliance and percent of perfect compliance at different office types.

Compliance was found to be different between clinic types (P = .023). Indigent clinics had the same median with slightly higher inner-quartile range than private clinics (7 [7-8], 7 [7-7]). Indigent clinics had higher mean compliance scores (7.1 vs 6.9) and a greater percentage of patients demonstrating perfect compliance (42% vs 14%, P < .001).

Clinics serving indigent patient populations had a higher compliance with required testing compared to private clinics. HIV testing in the third trimester remains the greatest need for improvement for all practice types.