Treating sexually transmitted infections in primary care: a missed opportunity?

Table 1

Patient characteristics, and associations with attendance at GP surgery (n=721)

		Base (n)	Item non-response or missing data (n)	p Value*
Age (years) mean (SD)	28.6 (9.4)	720	1

	%	Base (n)	Item non-response or missing data (n)	p Value*
χ² test unless otherwise stated; *t test after logarithmic transformation.
†See text for definition of STI.
§Row percentages. Thus for example, 38.9% of 329 men in comparison to 22.2% of 392 women were diagnosed with STI this attendance.
¶Only those with symptoms were requested to complete this question.
Male	45.5	720	1
Homosexual orientation (males only)	3.3	328	0
Percentage of patients diagnosed with STI this attendance†,§	29.8	721	0
By sex:
Male	38.9	329	0
Female	22.2	392	0
Percentage of patients who had already seen GP§	40.5	582	139
By age:				0.32
<25	38.3	251
25+	42.3	331
By sex:				0.002
Male	33.5	263
Female	46.4	319
By STI diagnosis:				0.83
STI diagnosed†	39.9	178
No STI diagnosed	40.8	404
By ethnicity:				0.36
White	39.9	153
Afro-Caribbean	27.2	92
African	37.2	43
By reason for attendance:				0.042
Symptoms	39	277
Check up	45.6	204
Other reason	31.1	90
	Median
Duration of symptoms (days)	7.0	223	NA¶
By whether or not GP seen:				0.0008**
GP seen	7.5
GP not seen	5.0
By STI diagnosis:				0.18**
STI	7.0
No STI	7.0