Evidence map›Paper›PMID 10562745›Full record

ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners1999

Postal urine specimens: are they a feasible method for genital chlamydial infection screening?

J Macleod, R Rowsell, P Horner, T Crowley, E O Caul, N Low, G D Smith

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 1999. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. The chlamydia screening studies: rationale and design.Sexually transmitted infections · 2004
    Trial
  4. Article
  5. Opportunistic and systematic screening for chlamydia: a study of consultations by young adults in general practice.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2006
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Repeat chlamydia screening by mail, San Francisco.Sexually transmitted infections · 2003
    Article
  10. Follow-up, treatment, and reinfection rates among asymptomatic chlamydia trachomatis cases in general practice.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2002
    Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

J MacleodDepartment of Social Medicine, University of Bristol.
R Rowsell
P Horner
T Crowley
E O Caul
N Low
G D Smith

Funding

Wellcome Trust
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundA United Kingdom (UK) screening programme for Chlamydia trachomatis has recently been announced. Pilot projects involving the opportunistic testing of women attending health facilities are due to commence in several sites. There is a danger that this approach will fail to obtain adequate population coverage. The alternative--true systematic population screening--is generally assumed to be unfeasible. Studies in Denmark using postal urine specimens have challenged this assumption. No such studies have been reported from the UK.

aimTo assess the potential of urine specimens sent by post as the basis for a UK population screening strategy for genital chlamydial infection.

methodTwo hundred patients (100 men, 100 women) aged 18 to 45 years were randomly sampled from the list of one urban group practice. Subjects were mailed an explanatory letter, a urine sample container, a sexual lifestyle questionnaire, and a prepaid return envelope. Non-responders were contacted by telephone; persistent non-responders were visited at home. Samples were tested for Chlamydia by DNA amplification and enzyme immunoassay.

resultsSixty-four (32%) subjects were no longer living at their GP registered address. Of the remaining 136, 126 (93%) responded to the survey and 113 (83%) accepted the request for a urine sample and completed a questionnaire. Acceptance rates were similar for men and women and across age groups. Four samples (3%) were Chlamydia positive.

conclusionHome mailed urine specimen collection in conjunction with a self-completed postal questionnaire is feasible. This could provide a viable basis both for determining population Chlamydia prevalence and for a UK Chlamydia population screening strategy. Overall cost effectiveness of such a strategy will depend on the cost of the test used. Comparative performance characteristics of the different currently available tests in this setting have yet to be fully determined.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultChlamydia InfectionsFemaleHumansMaleMass ScreeningPostal ServiceSpecimen HandlingSurveys and QuestionnairesUnited Kingdom

Identifiers

PMID10562745
PMCPMC1313443

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.