Abstract
BackgroundWe evaluated the risk of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), ectopic pregnancy, and infertility in women with a previous Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) diagnosis compared with women who tested negative for CT and CT untested women, considering both targeted and incidental (ie, prescribed for another indication) use of CT-effective antibiotics.MethodsThis was a retrospective study of women aged 12–25 years at start of follow-up within the Clinical Practice Research Datalink GOLD database linked to index of multiple deprivation quintiles, 2000–2013. CT test status and antibiotic use were determined in a time-dependent manner. Risk of PID, ectopic pregnancy, or female infertility were evaluated using of Cox proportional hazard models.ResultsWe studied 857 324 women, contributing 6 457 060 person-years. Compared with women who tested CT-negative, women who tested CT-positive had an increased risk of PID (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 2.36; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.01–2.79), ectopic pregnancy (aHR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.38–2.54), and infertility (aHR, 1.85; 95% CI, 1.27–2.68). The PID risk was higher for women with 2 or more positive CT tests than those with 1 positive test. PID risk increased with the number of previous antibiotic prescriptions, regardless of CT test status.ConclusionsWe showed an association between CT-positive tests and 3 adverse reproductive health outcomes. Moreover, this risk increased with repeat CT infections. CT-effective antibiotic use showed no decreased risks of subsequent PID regardless of CT history. Our results confirm the reproductive health burden of CT, which requires adequate public health interventions.
Highlights
We evaluated the risk of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), ectopic pregnancy, and infertility in women with a previous Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) diagnosis compared with women who tested negative for CT and CT untested women, considering both targeted and incidental use of CT-effective antibiotics
Compared with women who tested CT-negative, women who tested CT-positive had an increased risk of PID, ectopic pregnancy, and infertility
We showed an association between CT-positive tests and 3 adverse reproductive health outcomes
Summary
We evaluated the risk of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), ectopic pregnancy, and infertility in women with a previous Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) diagnosis compared with women who tested negative for CT and CT untested women, considering both targeted and incidental (ie, prescribed for another indication) use of CT-effective antibiotics
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have