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  • Who is being tested by the English National Chlamydia Screening Programme? A comparison with national probability survey data

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Health services research
Who is being tested by the English National Chlamydia Screening Programme? A comparison with national probability survey data
  1. Johanna Riha1,
  2. Catherine H Mercer2,
  3. Kate Soldan1,
  4. Clare E French1,
  5. Mary Macintosh1
  1. 1National Chlamydia Screening Programme, Health Protection Agency, London, UK
  2. 2Centre for Sexual Health & HIV Research, Department of Infection and Population Health, University College London, London, UK
  1. Correspondence to Kate Soldan, Health Protection Services – Colindale, Health Protection Agency, 61 Colindale Avenue, London, NW9 5EQ, UK; kate.soldan{at}hpa.org.uk

Abstract

Objectives We compare data collected by England's National Chlamydia Screening Programme (NCSP) with national probability survey data to examine demographic and behavioural differences that may be important in understanding who the NCSP is reaching and interpreting chlamydia positivity.

Methods Data for 538 119 men and women aged 16–24 years who were screened in 2008 and data collected from 2180 interviewees in Britain's second National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles 1999–2001 (Natsal-2), of whom 644 were tested for chlamydia, were compared using the χ2 statistic and logistic regression.

Results Compared with Natsal-2, the NCSP tested more women (67% vs 49%). NCSP participants were more likely to be younger: 29% were 16–17 years versus 16% of men and 15% of women in Natsal-2; from ethnic minority groups: 17% of men and 14% of women versus 8% and 6%, respectively, in Natsal-2; not to have used condoms at last sex: 66% of men and 68% of women versus 48% and 63%, respectively, in Natsal-2: and more likely to report two or more partners in the last year: 62% of men and 47% of women versus 47% and 30%, respectively, in Natsal-2. In multivariate analyses, higher AOR of chlamydia positivity were found for those reporting non-use of condoms and for those reporting multiple partners in both the NCSP and Natsal-2.

Conclusions The NCSP is testing young people at increased risk of chlamydia. The impact of this testing bias on the effectiveness of the programme should be evaluated.

  • Chlamydia trachomatis
  • Screening
  • England
  • probability survey
  • chlamydia
  • screening

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non commercial and is otherwise in compliance with the license. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/ and http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/legalcode.

https://doi.org/10.1136/sti.2010.047027

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    Footnotes

    • Funding This work was undertaken by the Health Protection Agency who received funding from the Department of Health; the views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Department of Health (England).

    • Competing interests JR, KS, CF and MM are employed by the Health Protection Agency and work for the National Chlamydia Screening Programme.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.