Knock-knock: a population-based survey of risk behavior, health care access, and Chlamydia trachomatis infection among low-income women in the San Francisco Bay area.
To estimate the prevalence of urogenital chlamydial infection among young, low-income women in northern California and to describe correlates of infection, a population-based door-to-door household cluster survey was conducted from 1996 through 1998. The participants included 1439 women 18-29 years of age, with a mean age of 24 years, most of whom were African American (43%) or Latina (23%) and had a median income of $500-$999 per month. Most (94%) had received health care in the past year, and approximately 50% was covered by state insurance programs. Although more than half (62%) had had a recent pelvic examination, only 42% had recently used a condom with a new partner. The prevalence of urogenital chlamydial infection was 3.2% (95% confidence interval, 2.2%-4.2%). Women with chlamydia were more likely to be younger (18-21 years of age) and nonwhite and to have lower socioeconomic status. These data demonstrated an approximately 2-3-fold greater burden of infection than routine surveillance data have suggested.
STD Prevention and Control Services, San Francisco Department of Public Health, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA. Jeff_Klausner@dph.sf.ca.us
J D
JD
Klausner
W
W
McFarland
G
G
Bolan
M T
MT
Hernandez
F
F
Molitor
G F
GF
Lemp
B
B
Cahoon-Young
S
S
Morrow
J
J
Ruiz
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005831:Genital Diseases, Female / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006078:Government Programs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007348:Insurance, Health; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011203:Poverty; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors