![[ Visit Client Website ]](images/banner.gif)
Background: Little data are available on gonorrhea infections among women being routinely screened for gonorrhea.
Objectives: To describe gonorrhea positivity, including an examination of racial disparities and the geographic distribution of disease, among young women attending family planning clinics who were screened for gonorrhea.
Methods: Data on gonorrhea tests among women aged 15-24 years attending family planning clinics from 2005-2007 were obtained through the Infertility Prevention Project. Clinics testing >= 90% of women for gonorrhea and sending >= 50 gonorrhea tests per year were included. Gonorrhea positivity on a state, county, and facility level was calculated and compared by age and race/ ethnicity.
Results: Median state-specific gonorrhea positivity was 1.3% (IQR 0.7–2.0%). Positivity was higher among women aged 15-19 years (1.4%, IQR 0.9–2.6%) than among those aged 20-24 years (1.1%, IQR 0.6 – 1.4%), p=0.03, and among non-Hispanic black women (3.8%, IQR 3.2–4.6%) versus non-Hispanic white women (0.6%, IQR 0.4–0.8%), p<0.0001. Half of all cases originated from 57 of 753 counties. Among non-Hispanic white women, positivity was >= 2.0% in 4% of counties, while 83% of counties had gonorrhea positivity of <1.0%. Gonorrhea positivity among non-Hispanic black women was>= 1.0% in two-thirds of counties and >= 2.0% in 58% of counties. These disparities were present diffusely across the geographic areas included in this analysis.
Conclusions: Gonorrhea positivity was consistently high among young non-Hispanic black women who were screened for gonorrhea in family planning clinics across multiple geographic areas. A large proportion of gonorrhea morbidity was concentrated in a relatively small number of counties.
Implications for Programs, Policy, and/or Research: Focusing gonorrhea prevention and service efforts on high morbidity areas and upon populations most affected by gonorrhea, particularly young non-Hispanic black women, could have a potential effect on reducing gonorrhea morbidity in these young women.