[Diagnosis and treatment of bacterial vaginosis by general practitioners]

In order to evaluate which diagnostic procedures and treatments general practitioners (GP) used for bacterial vaginosis, and to describe their knowledge of the disease, all the GPs in two counties were asked to fill in a questionnaire. Two hundred and sixty-six (59%) answered. The GP used the criteria of Amsel in 9%, the wet smear criteria in 12%, clue cells in 6%, the amine test in 30%, culture of Gardnerella vaginalis in 29%, 8% only used clinical examination and 6% did not use any criteria. Many examinations were carried out unnecessarily. Sixty-six percent stated that they had a sufficient knowledge of bacterial vaginosis, 36% had knowledge of the criteria of Amsel, 78% of the definition of clue cells and 58% considered culture of Gardnerella vaginalis as being diagnostically useful. Seventy-one percent used metronidazole for treatment. Treatment of the sexual partner was carried out in 33%. In conclusion, we recommend introduction of a more simple criterion than the criteria of Amsel.