Cervical ectopy is thought to increase the risk of chlamydia infection. This study aimed to determine whether chlamydia was more prevalent in young women with cervical ectopy.
Clinical notes of women aged 16–24 years attending the Portsmouth Genitourinary Medicine Clinic for an STI screen retrospectively. Information collected included the presence or absence of cervical ectopy, smoking habits, contraception methods, number of sexual partners in the previous three months, and previous STIs. Chlamydia infection was diagnosed by using strand displacement amplification on cervical swabs.
Two hundred thirty-one women were included in the study. The mean age was 19.8 years. Evidence of cervical ectopy was found in 107 women. Chlamydial infection was detected in 37.4% of those women with cervical ectopy and 21.8% in those without cervical ectopy. This difference was statistically significant. The significance remained even when accounting for confounding variables.
Cervical ectopy is a standard physiological process in young women. Recognition of cervical ectopy should alert the clinician to the possibility of a genital chlamydia infection. Opportunistic screening for chlamydia in young people should be offered to reduce infection prevalence and its sequelae.
Reference: https://srh.bmj.com/content/32/2/104
