Acceptability and Opportunity for Chlamydia Screening in Acute Care

This study examined the acceptability of Chlamydia trachomatis screening among 138 young women in a university-based urgent care setting and the extent to which the urgent care setting represents a missed-opportunity for screening at-risk women. Most women (86%) in need of a chlamydial test found it acceptable to be screened at their urgent care visit - even though their visit was unrelated to a reproductive health issue. Women who were in need of a chlamydial test were significantly less likely to have a primary-care provider than those who were up-to-date (41% vs. 24%, respectively; X[super]2=4.2, df=1, p=0.04). This study found chlamydial screening acceptable to young women who are being seen for non-reproductive related health visits in the urgent care setting. Implementing such efforts in urgent care settings can successfully reach a substantial proportion of at risk women who would otherwise not be screened for chlamydial.