Toename van het aantal bezoeken en seksueel overdraagbare aandoeningen op de soa-polikliniek van Utrecht, 1994-2002

To determine trends in numbers of visitors and their demographic characteristics, reasons for visit, number of STDs and high-risk groups.

Design

Secondary analysis of registration data.

Method

Data of every client that visited the STD clinic in Utrecht, the Netherlands, were aggregated from 1994 to 2002 in order to analyse trends.

Results

The number of visitors as well as the number of STDs rose strongly over the period investigated. The age of the visitors decreased. In 1994 17 of the visitors was born outside the Netherlands, in 2002 6. The majority of the clients (56) visited the STD clinic to get themselves tested preventively and 27 came because of symptoms. Visitors with symptoms or who were warned by others had a three-fold increased risk of having an STD. Other risk groups were: homosexual men, visitors born outside the Netherlands and visitors who have had an STD before. Groups with an increased risk of having a Chlamydia trachomatis infection were: visitors aged under 34 years old and visitors born in Morocco, Surinam and the Antilles. The number of Chlamydia infections rose sharply among homosexual male visitors.

Conclusion

The increase in the number of visitors and of STD requires an increase in STD prevention, aimed at high-risk groups. More research is needed into the limited help-seeking behaviour of immigrants and more attention needs to be paid to Chlamydia trachomatis infections among homosexual men.