Positive test results motivate GPs to continue screening in a chlamydia prevalence study.

In this study, GPs predicted for each of their patients in a chlamydia prevalence study whether they would be infected or not. Prediction of infection did not correlate well with true infection risk. GPs who had infected patients at the beginning of the project included more patients afterwards than their colleagues who had only negative results. A rigid screening protocol is necessary to preserve GPs from choosing wrong candidates for screening and subsequently getting demoralized because no infections are diagnosed.