title: 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.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Division of Urology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe, 650-0017, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshifumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kurahashi
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miyake
authors.forename: Yuzo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakano
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shinozaki
authors.forename: Nobutoshi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Oka
authors.forename: Kazushi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Takenaka
authors.forename: Isao
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hara
authors.forename: Soichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arakawa
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujisawa
mesh_terms: 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*