Rationale, design, and results of the first screening round of a comprehensive, register-based, Chlamydiascreening implementation programme in the Netherlands

BMC Infectious Diseases

Research Article

Johannes SA Fennema¹  Rik H Koekenbier¹  Eline LM Op de Coul²  Ingrid VF van den Broek²  Elfi EHG Brouwers³  Christian JPA Hoebe³  Sander M van Ravesteijn⁴  Hannelore M Götz⁴  Jan EAM van Bergen⁵  Eva M de Feijter⁵ 

[1] Amsterdam Public Health Service, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands;Department of Infectious Diseases, South Limburg Public Health Service, Geleen, The Netherlands;Rotterdam Rijnmond Public Health Service, Rotterdam, The Netherlands;STI AIDS Netherlands, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;

关键词: Risk Score;    Sexually Transmitted Infection;    Chlamydia Trachomatis;    Pelvic Inflammatory Disease;    Request Rate;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2334-10-293

 received in 2010-05-30, accepted in 2010-10-07,  发布年份 2010

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundImplementing Chlamydia trachomatis screening in the Netherlands has been a point of debate for several years. The National Health Council advised against implementing nationwide screening until additional data collected from a pilot project in 2003 suggested that screening by risk profiles could be effective. A continuous increase in infections recorded in the national surveillance database affirmed the need for a more active approach. Here, we describe the rationale, design, and implementation of a Chlamydia screening demonstration programme.MethodsA systematic, selective, internet-based Chlamydia screening programme started in April 2008. Letters are sent annually to all 16 to 29-year-old residents of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and selected municipalities of South Limburg. The letters invite sexually active persons to login to http://www.chlamydiatest.nl with a personal code and to request a test kit. In the lower prevalence area of South Limburg, test kits can only be requested if the internet-based risk assessment exceeds a predefined value.ResultsWe sent invitations to 261,025 people in the first round. One-fifth of the invitees requested a test kit, of whom 80% sent in a sample for testing. The overall positivity rate was 4.2%.ConclusionsThis programme advances Chlamydia control activities in the Netherlands. Insight into the feasibility, effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and impact of this large-scale screening programme will determine whether the programme will be implemented nationally.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© van Bergen et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2010