142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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310423
Understanding STD Screening and Management in Indiana Community Health Centers

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Sunday, November 16, 2014

Shalini Navale, MPH , Applied Health Science, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, Bloomington, IN
Beth Meyerson, MDiv, PhD , Applied Health Science, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, Bloomington, IN
Anthony Gillespie , Indiana Minority Health Coalition, Indianapolis, IN
Anita Ohmit, MPH , Racial and Ethnic Minority Epidemiology Center, Indiana Minority Health Coalition, Indianapolis, IN
Background: STD rates in the United States have increased over the past few years. Previous studies have determined that a substantial proportion of STD care is provided by community-based clinics/centers. The objective of this study was to assess and understand how Community Health Centers (CHCs) in Indiana identify and manage Chlamydia, Gonorrhea and Syphilis.  

Methods: Online survey was completed by 28 (68.3%) of Indiana CHCs between April and May 2013. Measures included reported STD services, testing expectations, barriers to screening and management and partner services. Covariates included clinic characteristics such as census designation, FQHC/RHC designation and years in current position. Reported practices were compared with current CDC guidelines for STD testing in clinical settings.

Results: Most CHCs reported onsite testing and counseling for Syphilis (75%), Chlamydia and Gonorrhea (85.7%). Testing expectations for STDs were mainly based on clinic policy (50%) and CDC recommendations (46.4%). Most clinics reported testing at patients request or when the patient was symptomatic for adults 65 years and younger and gay/bisexual men, while testing expectations for pregnant women and gay/bisexual men were unknown for quite a few CHCs. STD screening and treatment guideline trainings were offered to clinicians at the CHCs, but only a few (28.6%) reported being likely to have received this training within the past 3 years.

Conclusions: CHCs in Indiana overall did not follow the CDC guidelines for screening of Chlamydia, Gonorrhea and Syphilis. CHCs may consider understanding national and state guidelines while also discussing challenges to implementation to help implement more standardized care across the state.

Learning Areas:

Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Provision of health care to the public
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Describe STD testing practice in Indiana Community Health Centers. Evaluate whether CHC's reported testing is to standard of care (routine per CDC guidelines)

Keyword(s): STDs/STI, Prevention

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Ms. Shalini Navale is a Health Behavior doctoral student and Associate Instructor at the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington. Ms. Navale has worked on many projects which have focused on community health and HIV/STD testing and prevention within and outside the United States. Her most recent work in community health focused on determining accessibility and availability of health care resources among rural villages in South India.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 2068.0: STIs, HIV, and the HPV vaccine