Original articleMycoplasma genitalium among Adolescent Women and their Partners
Section snippets
Participants and procedures
Women aged 14–17 years were enrolled from one of three participating urban primary health care clinics located in a large, Midwestern city from 1999 to 2006. Young women attending the clinics were approached in waiting areas and informed consent was obtained following an explanation of study procedures. Recent male sexual partners of the index women were identified and invited to participate by telephone call or field visit. Informed consent was obtained from those agreeing to the study.
Results
A total of 383 women (90% African-American) were enrolled, and mean age at enrollment was 15.8 years. Fifty-five women eventually dropped out of the study (24 due to reasons initiated by the subject [most frequently other time commitments] and 31 due to repeated missed visits). Therefore, the discontinuation rate for our study was 14.4% (55/383).
At enrollment, about 83% of the participants reported at least one experience of vaginal intercourse, and mean age of first intercourse was 13.5 years.
Discussion
The cumulative prevalence of M. genitalium among urban adolescent women in this study was 13.6%, suggesting that it is a relatively common organism in this population. Point prevalence ranged from .8% to 4.1%. Previous cross-sectional studies that included some adolescents found a point prevalence between 3.5% and 7% [10], [17], [18]. The difference in point prevalence found here may be attributable to the target population for this project, as the young women were not recruited from STD or
Acknowledgments
This research was supported in part by the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U19 AI1131494) and Maternal and Child Health Bureau (T71 00008). Assistance in data collection and data analysis by Patricia Brooks, Les Meyer, and the Young Women’s Project staff is deeply appreciated.
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