Is telephone follow-up as good as traditional clinic follow-up in achieving the proposed national outcome standards for chlamydia management?
A retrospective review of 400 cases of genital chlamydia managed with a traditional clinic follow-up was compared to 400 cases with a telephone follow-up appointment. We satisfactorily treated more patients with the telephone follow-up appointment than with a traditional clinic follow-up (204 [51%] vs 121 [30%]; P <0.0001). We also satisfactorily treated more partners with the telephone follow-up system than a traditional clinic appointment system (0.57 vs 0.45 contacts per case; P =0.0006). The introduction of the telephone follow-up appointment system in the clinic increased the number of patients and contacts of patients successfully managed for genital chlamydial infection. Our findings should lead to increased research and adoption of different methods of follow-up and help develop proper outcome standards.
Apoola
A
A
Whittall Street Clinic, Whittall Street, Birmingham B4 6DH, UK.
Boothby
M
M
Radcliffe
K
K
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000592:standards*; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D016358:Contact Tracing; D004917:Erythromycin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009819:Office Visits; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012747:Sexual Partners; D013689:Telephone; D013997:Time Factors; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004917:Erythromycin