Despite U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations calling for gonorrhea and chlamydia testing each year in sexually active women younger than age 25 years and universal HIV screening, regardless of sexual risk, beginning at age 13 years, screening rates for adolescents remain abysmally low, according to a study presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting (Washington, D.C.; May 4-7). Researchers from University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (Philadelphia) randomly selected 1,000 routine visits by adolescents treated at a diverse array of 29 primary care practices and analyzed data regarding sexual history documentation and performance of sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing (gonorrhea, chlamydia, and HIV). Overall just over one-fifth (21.2 percent) had a documented sexual history, of which 21.2 percent were currently sexually active. STI and HIV testing was performed in 37.8 percent and 22.2 percent, respectively, of documented sexually active patients. “I didn’t expect the rates to be 100 percent, but it was surprising just how low they were,” author Monika Goyal, M.D., now an assistant professor of pediatrics at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., tells DTTR. “The two messages to take away from this study are that sexual risk assessments and screening are not […]