Journal article

Utility of risk-based chlamydia testing in primary care: Analysis of retrospective surveillance data among women in Melbourne, Australia

AL Wilkinson, K McNamee, C El-Hayek, EPF Chow, CS Bradshaw, N Roth, BK Tee, M Stoové, M Hellard

Sexual Health | CSIRO PUBLISHING | Published : 2017

Abstract

Background Chlamydia (Chlamydia trachomatis) continues to be a public health challenge in Australia, with some contention as to the best screening approach. In the present study we examined chlamydia testing, positivity and sexual behaviour among women with the aim of informing targeted testing among women aged ≥30 years. Methods: A longitudinal analysis was conducted on retrospective surveillance data collected among women attending general practice, family planning and sexual health clinics participating in sentinel surveillance in Melbourne, Australia. Women were aged ≥16 years and underwent urogenital testing for C. trachomatis (chlamydia) at participating clinics between 2007 and 2014. ..

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Grants

Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council


Funding Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the patients attending sentinel sites, the ongoing contribution of the surveillance officers at the Burnet Institute and notifying medical practitioners. The collection of data for the Victorian Primary Care Network for Sentinel Surveillance on blood-borne viruses and sexually transmissible infections is made possible by the ongoing participation and contribution of sentinel sites and the laboratories that undertake pathology services for these clinics. The authors gratefully acknowledge the contribution to this work of the Victorian Operational Infrastructure Support Program. The Victorian Department of Health funds ongoing surveillance projects within the Burnet Institute. The authors acknowledge the National Health and Medical Research Council who provide funding to Margaret Hellard as a Principal Research Fellow (112297), Mark Stoove as a Career Development Fellow (1090445), Eric Chow as an Early Career Researcher (1091226) and Anna Wilkinson as a public health scholarship recipient (1055196).