TY - JOUR
T1 - High prevalence of rectal chlamydia among pregnant adolescents in La Romana, Dominican Republic warrants extragenital STI testing
AU - Bancalari, Pilar
AU - Nicholas, Catherine
AU - Halpern, Mina
AU - Stonbraker, Samantha
AU - Taylor, Barbara
AU - Soriano, Leidy
AU - Ljubicic, Dana
AU - Amesty, Silvia
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: PB received funds from Columbia University’s Program for Education in Global and Population Health. SS was supported by the National Institute of Nursing Research of the National Institutes of Health under awards K99NR017829 and R00NR017829. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.
PY - 2022/1
Y1 - 2022/1
N2 - To our knowledge, there are no studies estimating the prevalence of extragenital sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among pregnant adolescents in the Caribbean. This study sought to fill this gap by assessing the prevalence and correlates of oral, genital, and rectal chlamydia (CT) among a sample of pregnant adolescents in La Romana, Dominican Republic. Two hundred pregnant youths, aged 15–24 years, were recruited by systematic sampling during their first prenatal visit to a maternal care unit. A sociodemographic and behavioral questionnaire was administered and urine and oral/anal swabs were collected and tested for CT. Descriptive analyses and Fisher’s exact tests were performed. The prevalence of oral, genital, and rectal CT was 6%, 15%, and 23%, respectively, although less than 5% of participants reported ever engaging in receptive anal intercourse. This discrepancy could be explained by autoinoculation, concurrent transmission during sex, undertreatment of rectal CT, or underreporting of anal sex. Almost half of CT infections would have been missed if only genital samples were collected, as current protocol dictates. More research is needed to understand sexual behaviors and rectal STI risk factors among heterosexual adolescent women. STI screening procedures for pregnant and sexually active adolescents should include routine testing of extragenital sites.
AB - To our knowledge, there are no studies estimating the prevalence of extragenital sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among pregnant adolescents in the Caribbean. This study sought to fill this gap by assessing the prevalence and correlates of oral, genital, and rectal chlamydia (CT) among a sample of pregnant adolescents in La Romana, Dominican Republic. Two hundred pregnant youths, aged 15–24 years, were recruited by systematic sampling during their first prenatal visit to a maternal care unit. A sociodemographic and behavioral questionnaire was administered and urine and oral/anal swabs were collected and tested for CT. Descriptive analyses and Fisher’s exact tests were performed. The prevalence of oral, genital, and rectal CT was 6%, 15%, and 23%, respectively, although less than 5% of participants reported ever engaging in receptive anal intercourse. This discrepancy could be explained by autoinoculation, concurrent transmission during sex, undertreatment of rectal CT, or underreporting of anal sex. Almost half of CT infections would have been missed if only genital samples were collected, as current protocol dictates. More research is needed to understand sexual behaviors and rectal STI risk factors among heterosexual adolescent women. STI screening procedures for pregnant and sexually active adolescents should include routine testing of extragenital sites.
KW - Adolescent health
KW - chlamydia trachomatis infection
KW - pregnancy
KW - sexual and reproductive health
KW - sexually transmitted diseases
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U2 - 10.1177/09564624211043082
DO - 10.1177/09564624211043082
M3 - Article
C2 - 34565231
AN - SCOPUS:85115880815
SN - 0956-4624
VL - 33
SP - 31
EP - 37
JO - International Journal of STD and AIDS
JF - International Journal of STD and AIDS
IS - 1
ER -