Epidemiological features of women with trichomoniasis in Auckland sexual health clinics: 1998-99.

AIM: To determine some epidemiological features of female sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic attendees with Trichomonas vaginalis infection.
METHODS: A retrospective audit of patient charts was performed on all cases of T. vaginalis infection diagnosed in female patients in an 18-month period from January 1998 to June 1999 (n=88). Descriptive features of these cases were collated. The ethnicity of female patients with T. vaginalis was compared to that of all other female attendees within the same period.
RESULTS: The incidence of T. vaginalis infection was 2.2% in 1998 1999. The mean age of patients was 26.5 years. Maori and Polynesian women were over-represented. Overall, patients were more likely to be symptomatic at presentation (78%) and to have abnormal findings on clinical examination (81%). 28% had co-existing chlamydia infection and 10% had co-existing gonorrhoea infection.
CONCLUSIONS: The mean age of 26.5 years is lower than that quoted in other studies. The majority of patients had more than one condition at diagnosis. The rate of co-infection with chlamydia is high and some consideration could be given to empirical treatment of chlamydia in patients diagnosed with T. vaginalis infection.