Antenatal sexually transmitted infection screening in private and indigent clinics in a community hospital system

Objective To determine whether clinics that serve indigent patients demonstrate equal compliance with sexually transmitted infection testing guidelines when compared with private clinics. Study Design One hundred eighty-three women were divided into cohorts based on whether they received prenatal care at a private or indigent clinic. Timing of required antenatal sexually transmitted infection screening was collected for 8 tests and compliance scores were calculated. Primary outcome was average compliance score compared between clinic types. Secondary outcomes included disease-specific compliance and percent of perfect compliance at different office types. Results Compliance was found to be different between clinic types ( P = .023). Indigent clinics had the same median with slightly higher inner-quartile range than private clinics (7 [7–8], 7 [7–7]). Indigent clinics had higher mean compliance scores (7.1 vs 6.9) and a greater percentage of patients demonstrating perfect compliance (42% vs 14%, P < .001). Conclusion Clinics serving indigent patient populations had a higher compliance with required testing compared to private clinics. HIV testing in the third trimester remains the greatest need for improvement for all practice types.