Partner notification for chlamydial infections among private sector clinicians in Seattle-King County: a clinician and patient survey.
OBJECTIVE
To describe partner notification practices for chlamydial infections among private sector clinicians.


METHODS
Telephone interviews of clinicians and patients identified through public health case reports in Seattle-King County, August-October 1998.


RESULTS
Clinicians reported advising 135 of 150 (90%) patients to notify their sex partners, but knew that all partners of only 26 (17%) patients received treatment. While 71 (57%) clinicians acknowledged ever providing medicine-to a patient to give to a partner, only 6 (4%) so treated a patient about whom they were interviewed. Most (87%) clinicians believed the health department should routinely contact all patients about partner notification. Almost all patients (72/76-95%) reported that their provider had advised them to notify their partners and 59 (78%) stated they did so. Most patients (11/17-65%) who did not notify all of their partners would have been willing to allow their clinician or the heath department to do it for them.


CONCLUSIONS
Private sector clinicians and their patients are generally unaware of chlamydial partner notification outcomes but are receptive to expanded partner notification services.
Golden
M R
MR
Department of Medicine and the Center for AIDS & STD, University of Washington, Seattle 98122, USA.
Whittington
W L
WL
Gorbach
P M
PM
Coronado
N
N
Boyd
M A
MA
Holmes
K K
KK
D000328:Adult; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002690:Chlamydia Infections; D016358:Contact Tracing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014861:Washington