Missed opportunities for early detection of chlamydia and gonorrhea in school-based health centers.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of the study was to assess the extent to which students are screened for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in their school-based health centers (SBHCs) in a Louisiana school district.

GOAL: The goal of this study was to determine the proportion of students who reported having been tested or treated for STDs at their SBHCs in the past 3 months and the prevalence of chlamydia and gonorrhea among respondents.

STUDY

DESIGN

During the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 school years, 487 students registered in their SBHCs, and who visited routinely their SBHC at least once in the past 3 months, participated in a chlamydia and gonorrhea screening independent of services their SBHCs provide. Participants were asked whether in the past 90 days they had been tested or treated for an STD at their SBHC.

RESULTS

Among respondents, 47/482 (9.8%) reported having been tested or treated for an STD at the SBHC in the previous 3 months. Overall, 65/487 (13.3%) tested positive for chlamydia or gonorrhea. Of the 65 students who tested positive, 53 (81.5%) were not tested or treated for an STD at the SBHC.

CONCLUSIONS

Many infections could have been detected by testing students during routine visits in SBHCs. Lack of routine screening in these SBHCs clearly represents missed opportunities for early detection of chlamydia and gonorrhea among local teens.