 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Amy Douglas, Norma Casas, Terri L. Walsh, MPH, and Dawn Ginzl, MPH. Research Division, California Family Health Council, Inc., 3600 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 600, Los Angeles, CA 90010
A serious problem confronting family planning providers is chlamydia reinfection. One cause of reinfection is the re-exposure to untreated sexual partners. To help identify barriers to partner treatment, the Infertility Prevention Project (IPP) of the California Family Health Council has collaborated with 14 Southern California family planning clinics which have administered questionnaires to over 500 patients infected with chlamydia. In addition to demographic and clinical information, the questionnaires asked patients how partner notification and treatment would affect themselves, their partner, and their relationship. Topics covered by the questionnaire included: patient comfort with telling partner(s) about need for treatment; preferred means of notifying partner; anticipated partner reaction when told of need for treatment; whether the patient thought their partner would get treated and, if so, where the partner would prefer to get treated; and the anticipated effect on the relationship. Patient responses stratified by age, gender, race/ethnicity and previous chlamydia infection help to identify barriers that might impact specific subgroups. This information can improve clinicians’ understanding of the problems facing patients whose partners need treatment and help clinicians develop effective partner management strategies.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.