New Scientist
Image: kat m research
Screening for the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia seems to make perfect sense. Most carriers of the bacterium show no symptoms at first, so testing is the only way doctors can identify who needs treatment and so help protect women from the pelvic inflammatory disease or infertility that can result.
However, a study now suggests that proactive screening – in which patients are invited to attend clinics for testing – represents poor value for money. This approach to screening is currently being piloted in England, says Pelham Barton at the University of Birmingham, UK, who led the new research.
Earlier evaluations of proactive screening “failed to take into account that treated patients can become reinfected”, says Barton. Using a mathematical model that included this possibility, his team estimates that every averted case of pelvic inflammatory disease or infertility costs health services at least £22,300 (BMJ, DOI: 10.1136/bmj.39262.683345.AE).
Barton says that opportunistic screening, in which patients are tested when they attend health clinics for unrelated reasons, is a cheaper option.
