Article Text
Abstract
Background National gonorrhoea treatment guidelines recommend ceftriaxone with azithromycin as first-line therapy, but doxycycline is recommended instead of azithromycin for patients with gonococcal pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). In 2013, 86.5% of patients in the Gonococcal Resistance to Antimicrobials Surveillance Programme (GRASP) were treated with the recommended therapy, but 3.9% were treated with doxycycline instead of azithromycin.
Objectives The objective of this analysis was to determine whether ceftriaxone plus doxycycline were prescribed for appropriate indications.
Methods Using GRASP 2013 data, patients prescribed the recommended therapy were compared with patients prescribed ceftriaxone and doxycycline, and associations were assessed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression.
Results In 2013, of the 913 patients prescribed ceftriaxone and azithromycin, 45.9% were men who have sex with men (MSM), 20% were women and 34.1% were heterosexual men while, of the 45 patients prescribed ceftriaxone and doxycycline, 64.4% were MSM, 28.9% were women and 6.7% were heterosexual men (p = 0.001). Of those prescribed ceftriaxone and doxycycline, 22.2% were MSM with chlamydia co-infection and 17.7% were women with PID. On multivariate analysis, MSM co-infected with chlamydia (aOR 3.4, 95% CI, 2.5–4.6; p = 0.001) and women diagnosed with gonococcal PID (OR,144.8, 95% CI, 24.2–864.0; p < 0.001) were more likely to be prescribed ceftriaxone and doxycycline.
Conclusion Less than a fifth of prescriptions for ceftriaxone with doxycycline were issued to treat gonococcal PID. Use of ceftriaxone with doxycycline may be preferred to treat MSM co-infected with chlamydia by some clinicians. However, as levels of tetracycline resistance in gonorrhoea are high, this may not provide the dual treatment coverage required.