[Cervicitis--epidemiological and clinical risk for Chlamydia trachomatis infection in university students]

Fifty volunteer, asymptomatic sexually active university female students were examined and inquired, in order to find risk factors predictive of Chlamydia trachomatis infection. Epidemiologic and behavioral factors (age, number of sexual partners, oral contraceptives use and history of previous sexually transmitted diseases) were found to be similar among the studied group and published data for North American female college students, but barrier contraceptive methods use was found to be different. Twenty two per cent of the sample had clinical cervicitis, and 30% had subclinical. If the screening models proposed by different authors would have been applied, between a 32% and 72% of the sample would have been selectively for the presence of Chlamydia trachomatis. It is concluded that international sugerences about Chlamydia trachomatis screening should be adopted until national experiences are made.