Evidence is not (yet) enough for evidence based policy for chlamydia screening

doi:10.1136/bmj.322.7282.364/a

BMJ 2001;322:364 ( 10 February )

Letters

Evidence is not (yet) enough for evidence based policy for chlamydia screening

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR $---$ Pimenta et al, in their evidence based health policy report, argue that opportunistic screening for Chlamydia trachomatis,targeting young women in primary care, "heralds the approach thatis required to manage the wide variety of sexual health issuesthat confront us today."¹ This conclusion is premature whenthe pilot studies described are not completed and unanswered questionsremain.

It is uncertain whether opportunistic screening of young women can control the chlamydia epidemic. The only randomised trialof screening did not evaluate an opportunistic approach and includedin the analysis only a small proportion of the women randomised.²Opportunistic screening in Sweden did reduce rates of infectionsand complications,³ but recent figures indicate a resurgenceamong young people.⁴ Notification of partners, essential tochlamydia control, is compulsory for general practitioners inSweden but not in Britain. The pilot studies have yet to reporthow many eligible women attended . . . [Full text of this article]

CiteULike

Complore

Connotea

Del.icio.us Add to Digg

Digg

StumbleUpon Add to Technorati

Technorati What's this?

Relevant Article

Evidence based health policy report: Screening for genital chlamydial infection: Jeanne Pimenta, Mike Catchpole, Muir Gray, Jenny Hopwood, and Sarah Randall
BMJ 2000 321: 629-631. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]