Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2010 Dec;86(7):514-9.
doi: 10.1136/sti.2009.042168. Epub 2010 Jun 30.

Adolescent women can perform a point-of-care test for trichomoniasis as accurately as clinicians

Jill S Huppert  1 , Elizabeth Hesse, Grace Kim, Michael Kim, Patricia Agreda, Nicole Quinn, Charlotte Gaydos
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Adolescent women can perform a point-of-care test for trichomoniasis as accurately as clinicians

Jill S Huppert et al. Sex Transm Infect. 2010 Dec.

Abstract

Objectives: To compare the accuracy (ie, correlation, sensitivity, specificity) of self-performed point-of-care (POC) tests with clinician-performed tests for trichomoniasis in adolescent women.

Methods: Sexually experienced women aged 14-22 years (n=209) collected a vaginal swab and performed a POC test for trichomoniasis. Using a speculum, the clinician obtained vaginal swabs that were tested for trichomoniasis using the POC test, wet mount, culture and transcription-mediated amplification (TMA) using standard and alternative primers. Self and clinician results were compared with true positives, defined as either culture-positive or TMA-positive with both sets of primers.

Results: Participants' mean age was 17.8 years; 87% were African-American; 74% reported vaginal itching or discharge and 51 (24%) had trichomoniasis. Over 99% correctly performed and interpreted her self-test. Self and clinician POC tests were highly correlated (95.7% agreement, κ 0.87). Compared with true positives, the sensitivity of the self-POC test was 78% (CI 65% to 89%), similar to that of the clinician-POC test (84%, CI 71% to 93%) and culture (82%, CI 69% to 92%), and significantly better than wet mount (39%, CI 26% to 54%). The specificity of the self-POC test was 99% (CI 96% to 100%), similar to that of the clinician-POC test (100%, CI 98% to 100%). The sensitivity of the self-POC test was not affected by vaginal symptoms or other variables.

Conclusions: Young women performing a self-POC test detected as many trichomoniasis infections as clinician-POC tests or culture, twice as many as wet mount and slightly fewer than an amplified test. Incorporating self-obtained or self-performed POC tests into routine practice could effectively increase the identification and treatment of trichomoniasis in this vulnerable population.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study recruitment diagram and case definition by diagnostic method. POC, point-of-care; TMA, transcription-mediated amplification.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Weinstock H, Berman S, Cates W., Jr Sexually transmitted diseases among american youth: incidence and prevalence estimates, 2000. Perspect Sex Reprod Health. 2004;36:6–10. - PubMed
    1. Sutton M, Sternberg M, Koumans EH, et al. The prevalence of Trichomonas vaginalis infection among reproductive-age women in the United States, 2001–2004. Clin Infect Dis. 2007;45:1319–1326. - PubMed
    1. Miller WC, Swygard H, Hobbs MM, et al. The prevalence of trichomoniasis in young adults in the United States. Sex Transm Dis. 2005;32:593–598. - PubMed
    1. Miller WC, Ford CA, Morris M, et al. Prevalence of chlamydial and gonococcal infections among young adults in the United States. JAMA. 2004;291:2229–2236. - PubMed
    1. Datta SD, Sternberg M, Johnson RE, et al. Gonorrhea and chlamydia in the United States among persons 14 to 39 years of age, 1999 to 2002. Ann Intern Med. 2007;147:89–96. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources