부산대학교 도서관

Objectives: Trichomonas vaginalis is the most common nonviral sexually transmitted pathogen. Wet mount microscopy performs poorly compared with culture; however, universal screening using culture would be cost-prohibitive. Goal: The goal of this study was to develop a predictive model for wet mount-negative women who may benefit from targeted use of culture for T. vaginalis detection. Study: Women presenting for sexually transmitted disease evaluation were prospectively screened for trichomoniasis using wet mount and culture. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify predictors of culture-proven trichomoniasis among wet mount-negative women. Results: A total of 2194 women were screened for trichomoniasis; overall, the prevalence of T. vaginalis was 17.5%. Three predictors (any drug use, contact to trichomoniasis, and African-American race) provided the most specific model (100%); any 1 predictor, the most sensitive model (97.8%). Conclusions: Given the public health impact of trichomoniasis, we recommend using any 1 of 3 predictors to identify women who would benefit from targeted culture for T. vaginalis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]