The prevention of sexually transmitted diseases which affect fertility: methodological problems and initial results

Sexually transmitted diseases and their consequences for fertility are currently a major preoccupation in public health. A joint research project is being carried out in France to develop an STD prevention program and then to implement it experimentally to evaluate its efficiency. It includes 2 phases: a feasibility phase, currently concluded, and an active phase, a community randomized trial. The aim of the feasibility phase was to test the research methods and tools and to act as a basis for the design of the prevention program. It measured the incidence of discharge (men and women) at a one-year interval and patient characteristics. Participating physicians were GPs in a French administrative department near Paris. Between the two measurements, information and sensitization actions were carried out in the same department among health professionals and the general public. The results show that the incidence of discharge (chosen here as indicators of STDs) in daily general medical practice is low, of the order of 6 cases per 1000 consultations. The community randomized trial will now be conducted in 6 French administrative departments, randomly divided into 3 treated departments, benefiting from a prevention campaign, and 3 controls, where no actions will be undertaken, and its results will be used in a national STD prevention campaign.