Trial reportSexually transmitted infections2004
Low prevalence of cervical infections in women with vaginal discharge in west Africa: implications for syndromic management.
Trial report in Sexually transmitted infections, 2004. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sexually transmitted infections in Ghana: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Community empowerment and involvement of female sex workers in targeted sexual and reproductive health interventions in Africa: a systematic review.Globalization and health · 2014Pooled it
- Systematic review of facility-based sexual and reproductive health services for female sex workers in Africa.Globalization and health · 2014Pooled it
- Cluster analysis for symptomatic management ofFrontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Risk factors associated with gonorrhea and chlamydia transmission in selected health facilities in Ghana.BMC infectious diseases · 2019Article
- Serological and PCR-based markers of ocular Chlamydia trachomatis transmission in northern Ghana after elimination of trachoma as a public health problem.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2018Article
- Bacterial etiology of sexually transmitted infections at a STI clinic in Ghana; use of multiplex real time PCR.Ghana medical journal · 2016Article
- Comparative analysis of syndromic and PCR-based diagnostic assay reveals misdiagnosis/ overtreatment for trichomoniasis based on subjective judgment in symptomatic patients.Infectious diseases of poverty · 2016Article
- Neisseria gonorrhoeae prevalence, incidence and associated risk factors among female sex workers in a high HIV-prevalence area of China.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2015Article
- Sexually transmitted infections in women: A correlation of clinical and laboratory diagnosis in cases of vaginal discharge syndrome.Indian dermatology online journal · 2014Article
- Chlamydia Trachomatis and Neisseria Gonorrhoeae prevalence among women of reproductive age living in urogenital schistosomiasis endemic area in Ghana.BMC research notes · 2014Article
- Incidence and correlates of Chlamydia trachomatis infection in a high-risk cohort of Kenyan women.Sexually transmitted diseases · 2013Article
- Symptomatic vaginal discharge is a poor predictor of sexually transmitted infections and genital tract inflammation in high-risk women in South Africa.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2012Article
- Prevalence of genital Chlamydia and gonococcal infections in at risk women in the kumasi metropolis, ghana.Ghana medical journal · 2010Article
- Rapid tests for sexually transmitted infections (STIs): the way forward.Sexually transmitted infections · 2006Review
- Testing for sexually transmitted infections: a brave new world?Sexually transmitted infections · 2006Article
- The burden and determinants of reproductive tract infections in India: a population based study of women in Goa, India.Sexually transmitted infections · 2006Article
- Mycoplasma genitalium: an organism commonly associated with cervicitis among west African sex workers.Sexually transmitted infections · 2005Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo measure prevalence and risk factors for cervical infections among a large sample of women consulting for vaginal discharge in west Africa and to evaluate its syndromic management through a two visit algorithm.
methodsIn 11 health centres in Bénin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinée, and Mali 726 women who presented with a vaginal discharge without abdominal pain and who denied being a sex worker (SW) were enrolled. Cervical samples were tested for the detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) and Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays. All participants were treated with single dose (2 g) metronidazole and clotrimazole cream for 3 days. They were randomised to be told either to come back on day 7 only if there was no improvement in the discharge (group A), or to come back on day 7 regardless of response to treatment (group B).
resultsOverall, the prevalence of NG and CT was only 1.9% (14/726) and 3.2% (23/726) respectively. Risk factors previously recommended by the WHO were not associated with the presence of cervical infection, with the exception of the number of sex partners in the past 3 months. When taken together, these risk factors had a positive predictive value of only 6.4% to identify cervical infections. Prevalence of cervical infection was not higher in women who came back on day 7, regardless of the strategy used. Prevalence of NG/CT was lower in Ghana and Bénin (5/280, 1.8%), where comprehensive interventions for SW have been ongoing for years, than in the three other countries (27/446, 6.1%, p = 0.01).
conclusionsNG and CT infections are uncommon in west African women who consult for vaginal discharge and who are not SW. Syndromic management of vaginal discharge should focus on the proper management of vaginitis. The control of gonococcal and chlamydial infection should be redesigned around interventions focusing on sex workers.
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