Lack of Sexually Transmitted Infection Treatment Accuracy When Relying on Syndromic Management in an Urgent Care Setting.

BACKGROUND: Chlamydia and gonorrhea are 2 of the most common sexually transmitted infections, and patients are increasingly seeking care for them in urgent care clinics. Providers often rely on syndromic management because of prolonged test turnaround times, which can result in inappropriate treatment.
METHODS: This study retrospectively evaluated chlamydia and gonorrhea treatment accuracy of adults, men and women, 18 years and older in 4 urgent cares in Northeast Iowa, using standard nucleic acid amplification test in a 6-month time frame through medical records review. Seven hundred twenty-two visits were evaluated.
RESULTS: The proportion of patients who were treated at the time of their visit was 25.8% (n = 186/722), resulting in 68.8% (n = 128/186) overtreatment and 8.2% (n = 44/536) undertreatment. Logistic regression analysis found that treatment prescribed without diagnostic test results and the patient-collected vaginal swabs were predictors of inappropriate treatment. Patients who were treated in the clinic were significantly less likely to be treated appropriately compared with patients who were treated later based on test results (odds ratio, 0.04; confidence interval, 0.02-0.06). Patients who self-collected vaginal swabs had significantly lower odds of being treated appropriately (odds ratio, 0.04; confidence interval, 0.09-0.80).
CONCLUSIONS: Syndromic management leads to inaccurate treatment of chlamydia and gonorrhea at the time of the initial patient visit. Changes in practice in urgent care are needed to improve treatment accuracy by promoting antibiotic stewardship and decreasing forward disease transmission.