RESUMEN
Introduction: COVID-19 pandemic has had a great impact on health systems. Many non-urgent visits were done virtually to limit exposure risks. Objective: Assess the impact of the pandemic on STI (sexually transmitted infections) testing in a college health setting. Material and methods: Quantitative assessment of the number of STI tests done, positive rates and percentage of "compliance to follow-up" for diagnosed STI from March to December 2020 and its comparison with historical data (2015-2019) at the University Health Services, UW-Madison. Measurement: Observed (2020) vs expected (2015-2019) number of STI tests, positive rates and compliance to follow-up testing for STIs. Results: The 2020 period showed a significant decrease in the number of tests done and an increase of positive rate when compared to historical data for total sample and per sex. There was a decrease in the percentage of follow-up for the entire sample and for females and an increase for males. Conclusions: In accordance with national data, our analysis shows significant declines in STI testing and follow-up during 2020 compared to previous years and an increase in positivity rate. A higher positivity with lower number of tests is likely due to triaging patients, facilitating testing for those at highest risk.
Introducción: La pandemia de COVID-19 ha tenido un gran impacto en los sistemas de salud. Muchas citas no urgentes se hicieron virtualmente para limitar riesgos de exposición. Objetivo: Evaluar el impacto de la pandemia en las pruebas para infecciones de transmisión sexual en servicios de salud universitarios. Materiales y métodos: Estudio cuantitativo del número de pruebas de infecciones de transmisión sexual realizadas, tasas de positividad y porcentaje de "cumplimiento de seguimiento" en el diagnóstico, desde marzo a diciembre del 2020 y su comparación con datos históricos (2015-2019) en los Servicios de Salud de UW-Madison. Resultados: Se encontró una reducción significativa en el número de pruebas realizadas y aumento de la tasa positiva, comparado con datos históricos para la muestra total y por sexo. Hubo disminución en el porcentaje de seguimiento para toda la muestra y para mujeres, y un incremento para hombres. Conclusiones: El análisis muestra reducciones significativas en pruebas para infecciones de transmisión sexual y seguimiento durante 2020, comparado con años anteriores y un incremento en la tasa de positividad. El hallazgo de una mayor positividad con un bajo número de pruebas se debe probablemente a la clasificación de los pacientes, facilitando así pruebas en aquellos con mayor riesgo.
Asunto(s)
Humanos , Masculino , Femenino , Enfermedad , Servicios de Salud , Pacientes , Sexo , Enfermedades de Transmisión Sexual , DiagnósticoRESUMEN
Objectives: To examine differences in compliance to follow-up for STD based on demographic, clinical and academic characteristics. Methods: Cross-sectional study examining associations between clinical, demographic and academic variables and compliance to follow-up for STDs in a college population. Participants: Chart review data collected at University Health Services (UHS) UW- Madison, where 449 cases were reported in 2017. Results: Final model includes sex, sex of partners and its interaction. It shows no significant difference in follow-up for males compared to females or for students having partners of the same sex nor students having partners of the same and different sex. Finally, when interactions are introduced, males having partners of a different sex were significantly associated with less compliant follow-up (AOR: 10.36; 95% CI= 1.57- 68.35). Conclusions: The effect of the sexual partners in noncompliance differs by sex. Males with partners of a different sex were 10 times more likely to noncompliance to follow up than females with partners of a different sex.
