Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #114996

Catherine A. Porter, MHS, California Family Health Council, Inc., 2550 9th Street, Suite 110, Berkeley, CA 94710, 510-486-0412, porterc@cfhc.org

Background: In California, regional Chlamydia screening guidelines recommend universal screening of females ≤25 years. It remains unclear what role private physicians/HMOs should play in large-scale Chlamydia screening activities.

Objective: Among women who received Family Planning (FP) services in FP clinics, compare the level of previous Chlamydia testing between women who received any health care services from a Family Planning or Public clinic (FP/Public), private physician/HMO, or both in the past year.

Methods: Data was collected through passive surveillance in family planning sentinel sites in the California project area, excluding San Francisco and Los Angeles counties. χ² analyses were performed on data from 16,655 females aged ≤25 years seen at these sites from June 2001 through October 2004 where information on receipt of health care services was available.

Results: Of women seen at these FP clinics, 68% visited a FP/Public clinic in the past year, 25% visited a private physician, and 8% visited both. 69% of women who visited a FP/Public clinic were tested for Chlamydia, versus 30% visiting private physicians and 62% visiting both (p<0.001). Although the majority was tested in a FP/Public clinic, all groups had ≥5% positive Chlamydia results.

Conclusion: Women receiving services from private physicians, in addition to FP/Public clinics, are less frequently screened for Chlamydia than women who do not attain services from private physicians. Comparable rates of Chlamydia infection, however, are seen in both groups. Greater emphasis should be placed on screening for Chlamydia by private doctors/HMO organization in order to meet regional screening goals.

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