title: Performance of the recommendations of a British advisory group for screening for chlamydia in a sample of women in general practice.
abstract: In this study the performance of the guidelines produced by the British Chief Medical Officer's expert advisory group for selective screening for Chlamydia trachomatis was evaluated. The guidelines were applied to a sample of 777 women in general practice in Antwerp, Belgium. The accuracy of the screening/testing recommendations was suboptimal. The model detected 90% of infections but failed to identify a high-risk population; the population to be screened was reduced by only 21%. The focus on young age as the most important determinant for screening was not appropriate. More attention should be paid to risky sexual behaviour.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium. veronique.verhoeven@ua.ac.be
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Verhoeven
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Avonts
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meheus
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ieven
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Goossens
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Van Royen
mesh_terms: D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000592:standards*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D006113:United Kingdom