A comparison of clinical features between chlamydial and non-chlamydial urethritis in men negative for gonococcal infection who attended a urological outpatient clinic in Japan.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to investigate the clinical features of non-gonococcal urethritis in men who attended a urological outpatient clinic in Japan.


METHODS
This study included a total of 194 patients diagnosed as having non-gonococcal urethritis and subsequently judged as cured following antibiotic therapy between January 2001 and June 2005. Clinical data were analyzed after dividing these patients into two groups as follows: 96 patients with chlamydial urethritis (CU) and 98 with non-chlamydial urethritis (NCU).


RESULTS
The incubation period in the CU group was significantly longer than that in the NCU group (P = 0.0020). The incidence of severity of symptoms in the NCU group was significantly greater than that in the CU group (P = 0.022), and the interval between the appearance of the initial symptom and consulting the clinic was significantly shorter in the NCU group than in the CU group (P = 0.0015). The proportion of commercial sex workers (CSWs) as the causative partner in the NCU group was significantly greater that in the CU group (P < 0.001), and the incidence of oral sex as the causative mode of sexual interaction was significantly more frequent in the NCU group than that in the CU group (P = 0.021). The duration of antibiotic therapy until cured was significantly longer in the CU group than in the NCU group (P = 0.0051). Furthermore, multivariate analysis showed that whether the infection involved CU or NCU was independently associated with the treatment interval irrespective of other factors examined (P = 0.041).


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that the clinical characteristics of CU and NCU clearly differ and that CU tends to require a longer time to cure than NCU; therefore, among patients with non-gonococcal urethritis, it would be particularly important to effectively control the spread of CU.
Kurahashi
Toshifumi
T
Division of Urology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe, 650-0017, Japan.
Miyake
Hideaki
H
Nakano
Yuzo
Y
Shinozaki
Masashi
M
Oka
Nobutoshi
N
Tanaka
Kazushi
K
Takenaka
Atsushi
A
Hara
Isao
I
Arakawa
Soichi
S
Fujisawa
Masato
M
D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014526:Urethritis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology*