Descriptive Epidemiology of Women in the Emergency Department With Gonorrhea and Chlamydial Infection in the United States.

Demographic characteristics, risk factors, and clinical variables associated with gonorrhea and chlamydial infection in women being treated in emergency departments (EDs) in the United States are incompletely characterized. We used univariable and multivariable regression analyses on 17,411 encounters from women 18 years and older who presented to EDs in northeast Ohio and were tested for gonorrhea or chlamydial infection. There were 1,360 women (7.8%) who had Chlamydia trachomatis infection and 510 (2.9%) who had Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection. Those infected with C. trachomatis or N. gonorrhoeae were younger (23.8 vs. 29.2 years), unmarried (97.7% vs. 90.1%), Black (93.3% vs. 88.0%), infected with Trichomonas vaginalis (39.9% vs. 27.2%), diagnosed with urinary tract infection (15.7% vs. 10.6%), and treated for gonorrhea and chlamydial infection during the ED visit (31.6% vs. 17.4%) (all ps < .001). Women infected with C. trachomatis or N. gonorrhoeae had more urine white blood cells (WBCs) (23.9 vs. 16.4 cells per high-power field [HPF]) and leukocyte esterase (1.2+ vs. 0.8+) on urinalysis. They had more WBCs (18.5 vs. 12.4 cells/HPF) and odds of having T. vaginalis infection (12.8% vs. 8.2%) on vaginal wet preparation (all ps < .001). Women infected with C. trachomatis were more likely to be younger and not Black; they were less likely to be treated for gonorrhea and chlamydial infection in the ED and to have lower levels of urine WBCs, leukocyte esterase, and blood than those infected with N gonorrhoeae (all ps ≤ .05).

Prediction model for gonorrhea, chlamydia, and trichomoniasis in the emergency department.

OBJECTIVE: History and physical examination findings can be unreliable for prediction of genitourinary tract infections and differentiation of urinary tract infections from sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The study objective was to develop a prediction tool to more accurately identify patients with STIs. METHODS: A retrospective review of 64,490 emergency department (ED) encounters between April 18, 2014, and March 7, 2017, where patients age 18 years or older had urinalysis and urine culture or testing for gonorrhea, chlamydia, or trichomonas, was used to develop a prediction model for men and women with Neisseria gonorrhoeae or Chlamydia trachomatis, or both, and for women with Trichomonas vaginalis. The data set was randomly divided into two-thirds discovery and one-third validation. Groups were assigned through a random number generator. Backward step regression modeling was used to identify the best model for each outcome. RESULTS: With use of age, race, marital status, and findings from vaginal wet preparation (white blood cells [WBCs], clue cells, and yeast) and urinalysis (squamous epithelial cells, protein, leukocyte esterase, and WBCs), the models had areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.80 for men with N gonorrhoeae or C trachomatis, or both; 0.75 for women with N gonorrhoeae or C trachomatis, or both; and 0.73 for women with T vaginalis. CONCLUSIONS: The model estimated likelihood of ED patients having STIs was reasonably accurate with a limited number of demographic and laboratory variables. In the absence of point-of-care STI testing, use of a prediction tool for STIs may improve antimicrobial stewardship.

Vaginal leukocyte counts for predicting sexually transmitted infections in the emergency department.

BACKGROUND: The use of vaginal white blood cell (WBC) counts to predict sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the emergency department (ED) is incompletely characterized. OBJECTIVES: Our objective was to assess the relationship between vaginal wet preparation WBC counts and STIs and to determine whether WBC counts of at least 11 WBCs per high-power field (HPF) could be useful for identifying STIs in women in the ED. METHODS: Female ED patients 18 years or older who were evaluated in a single health system between April 18, 2014, and March 7, 2017, and had a genital wet preparation WBC result were retrospectively examined using univariable and multivariable analysis. RESULTS: Vaginal wet preparation WBC counts were examined for 17,180 patient encounters. Vaginal WBC counts of at least 11 WBCs/HPF were associated with increased odds of having gonorrhea, chlamydia, or trichomoniasis. When this threshold was used for the diagnosis of each STI, sensitivity ranged from 48.2% to 53.9%, and specificity ranged from 67.2% to 68.8%. CONCLUSION: Women with STIs are more likely to have higher vaginal WBC counts. However, higher vaginal wet preparation WBC counts in isolation have limited diagnostic utility for gonorrhea, chlamydia, and trichomoniasis. Incorporation of age, urine leukocyte esterase results, and vaginal WBC counts provided a better predictor of an STI than vaginal WBC counts alone.

A Descriptive Analysis of Men Diagnosed With Epididymitis, Orchitis, or Both in the Emergency Department.

Introduction Epididymitis and orchitis are illnesses characterized by pain and inflammation of the epididymis and testicle. They represent the most common causes of acute scrotal pain in the outpatient setting. Epididymitis and orchitis have both infectious and noninfectious causes, with most cases being secondary to the invasive pathogens chlamydia, gonorrhea, and Escherichia coli (E.coli). The study's objective was to examine the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of men diagnosed with epididymitis or orchitis in a United States emergency department. Methods We examined a dataset of 75,000 emergency department (ED) patient encounters from a single health system in Northeast Ohio who underwent nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) for chlamydia, gonorrhea, or trichomonas, or who received a urinalysis and urine culture. All patients were ≥18 years of age, and all encounters took place between April 18, 2014, and March 7, 2017. The analysis only included men receiving an ED diagnosis of epididymitis, orchitis, or both. We evaluated laboratory and demographic data using univariable and multivariable analyses. Results There were 1.3% (256/19,308) of men in the dataset diagnosed with epididymitis, orchitis, or both. Only 50.1% (130/256) of men diagnosed with epididymitis, orchitis, or both were tested for gonorrhea and chlamydia during their clinical encounter, and among those 13.8% (18/130) were positive. Chlamydia (12.3% [16/130]) was more common than both gonorrhea (3.1% [4/129]) and trichomonas (8.8% [3/34]) among men <35 years of age diagnosed with epididymitis, orchitis, or both. Only 62.1% of men diagnosed with epididymitis, orchitis, or both received a urine culture, of which 20.1% grew bacteria at ≥10,000 CFU/ml. E. coli (N= 20) was the most common bacteria growing in urine culture followed by Streptococcus (N= 3), Klebsiella (N= 2), Pseudomonas (N= 2), and Serratia (N= 2). Men diagnosed with epididymitis, orchitis, or both who had a positive urine culture were more likely to be ≥35 years of age, married, had higher urine white blood cells (WBCs), more urine bacteria, higher urine leukocyte esterase, more likely to have urine nitrite, and were less likely to be empirically treated for gonorrhea and chlamydia (P≤.03 for all).  Conclusions In the ED, epididymitis, orchitis, or both are uncommonly diagnosed among patients undergoing genitourinary tract laboratory testing. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are common in men <35 years of age diagnosed with epididymitis, orchitis, or both, with chlamydia being most common. E. coli was the most common bacteria growing in urine culture.

Descriptive analysis of prostatitis in the emergency department.

INTRODUCTION: Prostatitis is one of the most common urologic diseases in ambulatory patients. However, prostatitis data are limited from the emergency department (ED) setting. METHODS: A data set was examined of patients age 18 years or older who received urinalysis and urine culture or were tested for gonorrhea, chlamydia, or trichomonas in the ED from a health care system in northeast Ohio. RESULTS: Of 19,308 ED encounters of male patients, 77 encounters (0.4%) involved the diagnosis of prostatitis. Men with prostatitis were younger (52.4 vs 66.3 years), were less likely to be hospitalized (27.3% vs 43.1%), had shorter clinical encounters (1336.5 vs 3019.3 min), and were less likely to arrive by emergency medical services or police (6.5% vs 45.5%) than men diagnosed with urinary tract infection (UTI) without prostatitis (n = 2527) (P ≤ .007 for all). Of the men with urinalysis, those with prostatitis had less bacteria (0.9+ vs 1.8+), blood (0.9+ vs 1.5+), glucose (4.0% vs 13.0%), leukocyte esterase (0.9+ vs 2.3+), nitrite positive (8.0% vs 21.4%), protein (0.5+ vs 1.2+), squamous epithelial cells (0.6 vs 1.7 per high-power field [HPF]), red blood cells (18.3/HPF vs 29.5/HPF), and white blood cells (31.6/HPF vs 57.6/HPF) than men diagnosed with UTI and no prostatitis (P ≤ .005 for all). Escherichia coli was the most common bacterium growing in the urine (58.8%; n = 10) and the blood (100.0%; n = 2) of men with prostatitis; however 73.0% (n = 17) of urine cultures and 90.9% (n = 22) of blood cultures had no bacterial growth. Of 77 patient encounters with prostatitis, 16 (20.8%) underwent testing for Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis and 3 (3.9%) for Trichomonas vaginalis. Of those tested, only 1 person was infected, with C trachomatis. CONCLUSION: Prostatitis was uncommonly diagnosed in men undergoing urinalysis and urine culture or testing for sexually transmitted infections in the ED.

Association of Bartholin cysts and abscesses and sexually transmitted infections.

INTRODUCTION: Bartholin gland cysts or abscesses account for many gynecologic visits in the emergency department (ED). Previous smaller studies have suggested a link between Bartholin cysts/abscesses and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), but few studies have involved the ED. METHODS: We retrospectively identified patients aged 18 years or older seen in 1 ED between January 2012 and March 2017 who had urinalysis and urine culture and/or were tested for gonorrhea, chlamydia, or trichomonas by nucleic acid amplification testing. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to evaluate associations between Bartholin cysts/abscess and demographics, laboratory findings, and ED diagnoses. RESULTS: Data were collected for 75,000 ED patients; 64 patients had a diagnosis of Bartholin cyst or abscess, 40 of whom were also tested for Neisseria gonorrhoeae or Chlamydia trachomatis. Ten percent of patients with a Bartholin cyst/abscess were infected with N gonorrhoeae, compared with 3% of those without a Bartholin cyst/abscess (P = .008). The rates of C trachomatis and Trichomonas vaginalis infections were 13% and 26%, respectively, among patients with a Bartholin cyst/abscess, compared with 8% and 30%, respectively, among those without a Bartholin cyst/abscess (P > .05 for both). On regression analysis, only increased urobilinogen level (ß, 0.31; odds ratio, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.11-1.66; P = .003) and infection with N gonorrhoeae (ß, 1.69; odds ratio, 5.40; 95% CI, 1.43-20.35; P = .01) were associated with a Bartholin cyst/abscess. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians in the ED should consider testing patients with a Bartholin cyst/abscess for gonorrhea.

Descriptive Evaluation of Male Emergency Department Patients in the United States With Gonorrhea and Chlamydia.

Introduction Sexually transmitted infections are commonly tested for in the emergency department (ED), but diagnostic test results are often unavailable during the clinical encounter. Methods We retrospectively reviewed health records of 3,132 men ≥18 years that had an emergency department visit in northeast Ohio between April 18, 2014 and March 7, 2017. All subjects underwent testing for Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis. Independent t-tests and chi-square analyses were performed as well as multivariable regression analysis. Results On univariable analysis, men with N gonorrhoeae and/or C trachomatis, compared with uninfected men, were younger (25.9 vs 32.4 years), more likely to be of Black race (91.7% vs 85.6%), less likely to be married (3.7% vs 10.2%), less likely to arrive to the ED by ambulance or police (1.7% vs 4.1%), and more likely to be diagnosed with a urinary tract infection (8.3% vs 3.7%), to be treated for gonorrhea and chlamydia in the ED (84.6% vs 54.9%), and to have higher emergency severity index (ESI) scores (3.8 vs 3.6) (P ≤ .03 for all). On urinalysis, men infected with N gonorrhoeae and/or C trachomatis had significantly more white blood cells (55.1 vs 20.9); more mucus (1.3 vs 1.2); higher leukocyte esterase (1.5 vs .4); fewer squamous epithelial cells (.6 vs 1.4); higher urobilinogen (1.1 vs .8); higher bilirubin (.09 vs .05); and more protein (.4 vs .3) (P ≤ .04). Conclusions Demographic and urinalysis findings can be associated with an increased odds of men being infected with N gonorrhoeae and/or C trachomatis.

Frequency of Coinfection on the Vaginal Wet Preparation in the Emergency Department.

Introduction Vaginal infections are common in the emergency department (ED) but the frequency of vaginal coinfections identified on wet preparation is unknown. Methods The study examined a data set of 75,000 ED patient encounters between April 18, 2014, and March 7, 2017, who had received testing for gonorrhea, chlamydia, or trichomonas or had received a urinalysis and urine culture during the ED encounter. From this data set we reviewed 16,484 patient encounters where a vaginal wet preparation was performed on women age 18 years and older. Findings from the vaginal wet preparation and ED discharge diagnoses were examined to evaluate the frequency of vaginal coinfections with vulvovaginal candidiasis, trichomoniasis, and bacterial vaginosis. Results Among the women who had wet preparations, 4,124 patient encounters (25.0%) had a diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis, 625 (3.8%) had a diagnosis of vulvovaginal candidiasis, and 1,802 (10.9%) were infected with Trichomonas vaginalis. Twenty encounters (0.1%) had a diagnosis of vulvovaginal candidiasis and trichomoniasis; 150 (0.9%), bacterial vaginosis and trichomoniasis; 136 (0.8%), vulvovaginal candidiasis and bacterial vaginosis; and 10 (0.1%), trichomoniasis, bacterial vaginosis, and vulvovaginal candidiasis. On vaginal wet preparation, the mean white blood cell count was 13.0 per high-power field. Clue cells were found in 6,988 wet preparations (42.4%); 1,065 wet preparations (6.5%) had yeast and 1,377 (8.4%) had T. vaginalis. T. vaginalis was identified in 2.5% (266/10,542) of urinalyses and 8.4% (406/4,821) of nucleic acid amplification tests. Conclusions Vaginal coinfections were uncommon among women receiving a vaginal wet preparation in the emergency department. The most common vaginal coinfection was bacterial vaginosis and trichomonas.