Healthcare provider awareness of the recent FDA approval on first diagnostic tests for extragenital testing for chlamydia and gonorrhea

Abstract

To assess healthcare provider awareness of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 2019 approval of nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT) using extragenital specimens for chlamydia and gonorrhea, several questions were included in fall 2020 Porter Novelli's DocStyles survey, a US nationally representative semi-annual web-based survey of healthcare providers. There were 1502 respondents included in this study, 1000 family practitioners/internists as primary care physicians (PCPs), 251 obstetricians/gynecologists (OBs/GYNs), and 251 nurse practitioners/physician assistants (NP/PA). Awareness of this FDA approval was 34.3% overall and significantly varied by provider specialty: 45.0% for OB/GYN versus 23.5% for NP/PA, p < 0.01. OB/GYN had the lowest rate of ordering any extragenital gonorrhea and chlamydia tests in the past 12 months (31.6%) versus the other providers (ranging from 46.2% for NP/PA to 60.7% for PCP). The respondents were more likely to be aware of the FDA approval if they had ordered extragenital chlamydia or gonorrhea testing for men who have sex with men (MSM) than those who did not order the tests for MSM (72.3% versus 43.7%, p < 0.01). Of 1502 respondents, lack of reimbursement as a barrier to ordering extragenital tests for chlamydia and gonorrhea was most mentioned (16.6%) overall and did not significantly vary by provider's specialty. Further outreach is needed to educate healthcare providers on the changes in the FDA approval for extragenital gonorrhea and chlamydia testing so that they can provide comprehensive care to their patients and to reduce the potential for antimicrobial resistance.