Should all sexually active young women in Hungary be screened for Chlamydia trachomatis?
OBJECTIVE
Cost-effectiveness analysis was carried out to develop screening strategy for Chlamydia trachomatis to assess the possibility of preventing pelvic inflammatory disease and its sequelae.


METHODS
An 18 months epidemiological study of prevalence of chlamydial infection among pregnant women was carried out in Hungary.


RESULTS
The policy of testing and treating was less cost-effective than neither testing nor treating, unless the cost of the diagnostic test were less than or equal to US$ 10, or the prevalence of infection in women were greater than 8.3.


CONCLUSIONS
Since the prevalence of chlamydial infection amongst 15-24 years old women in this study was 8.0%, the cost of screening in Hungary only barely outweighs the benefit in economic terms. Given the undesirable potential consequences of the infection, it is thus recommended that Hungarian clinicians should screen all young, sexually active women for C. trachomatis at the same time as they perform routine pelvic examinations.
Nyári
Tibor
T
Department of Medical Informatics, University of Szeged, P.O. Box 427, H-6720, Szeged, Hungary. nyari@dmi.szote.u-szeged.hu
Woodward
Mark
M
Kovács
László
L
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000191:economics* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006814:Hungary; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000191:economics* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015995:Prevalence; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012725:Sexual Behavior