title: Young pregnant women's views on the acceptability of screening for chlamydia as part of routine antenatal care.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In pregnancy, untreated chlamydia infection has been associated with adverse outcomes for both mother and infant. Like most women, pregnant women infected with chlamydia do not report genital symptoms, and are therefore unlikely to be aware of their infection. The aim of this study was to determine the acceptability of screening pregnant women aged 16-25 years for chlamydia as part of routine antenatal care.
  
  
  METHODS
  As part of a larger prospective, cross-sectional study of pregnant women aged 16-25 years attending antenatal services across Melbourne, Australia, 100 women were invited to participate in a face-to-face, semi structured interview on the acceptability of screening for chlamydia during pregnancy. Women infected with chlamydia were oversampled (n = 31).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Women had low levels of awareness of chlamydia before the test, retained relatively little knowledge after the test and commonly had misconceptions around chlamydia transmission, testing and sequelae. Women indicated a high level of acceptance and support for chlamydia screening, expressing their willingness to undertake whatever care was necessary to ensure the health of their baby. There was a strong preference for urine testing over other methods of specimen collection. Women questioned why testing was not already conducted alongside other antenatal STI screening tests, particularly in view of the risks chlamydia poses to the baby. Women who tested positive for chlamydia had mixed reactions, however, most felt relief and gratitude at having had chlamydia detected and reported high levels of partner support.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Chlamydia screening as part of routine antenatal care was considered highly acceptable among young pregnant women who recognized the benefits of screening and strongly supported its implementation as part of routine antenatal care. The acceptability of screening is important to the uptake of chlamydia screening in future antenatal screening strategies.
authors: The University of Melbourne, Carlton, Victoria, Australia. jbilardi@mshc.org.au
authors: Jade E
authors: JE
authors: Bilardi
authors: Deborah L
authors: DL
authors: De Guingand
authors: Meredith J
authors: MJ
authors: Temple-Smith
authors: Suzanne
authors: S
authors: Garland
authors: Christopher K
authors: CK
authors: Fairley
authors: Sonia
authors: S
authors: Grover
authors: Euan
authors: E
authors: Wallace
authors: Jane S
authors: JS
authors: Hocking
authors: Sepehr
authors: S
authors: Tabrizi
authors: Marie
authors: M
authors: Pirotta
authors: Marcus Y
authors: MY
authors: Chen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002689:Chlamydia / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011295:Prenatal Care; D014739:Victoria; D055815:Young Adult