Background:
Little is known about chlamydia (CT) and gonorrhea (GC) testing in women receiving care from private providers and the extent of dual testing for both organisms.

Objective:
To characterize CT and GC testing in privately-insured women.

Method:
We used the Medstat Marketscan database, containing medical claims for approximately 4 million privately-insured patients. We selected 2001 outpatient claims for women 15 to 65 years of age who received a test specific for CT or GC. We then determined the average and median age and proportion of women tested for both organisms.

Result:
A total of 48,146 women aged 15 to 65 years were tested for CT, GC, or both organisms in 2001. Their median age was 29 years and their average age was 30.0 years; 25% were 36 years of age or older. Some women were tested more than once during the year. Women were tested for CT on 50,980 occasions and GC on 42,916 occasions. They were tested for both CT and GC on 41,102 of these occasions, which equals 80.6% of occasions they were tested for CT and 95.8% of occasions they were tested for GC. Women tested for GC only on ≥1 occasion were significantly older (mean 30.6 years versus 30.0 years, p < 0.05) than women never tested for GC only(the median age for both groups was 29 years). Age differences among women tested for CT only versus never tested for CT only were not significant.

Conclusion:
Testing for both CT and GC is practiced in the majority of instances when testing for either is performed. Given the different epidemiology of GC and CT, women in the private sector may receive GC testing more frequently than necessary.

Implications:
These data show that dual testing for CT and GC is the norm. Further research may clarify the reasons for these testing patterns.