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Knowledge of Gonorrhea in Adolescent Females With a History of STD

Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Division of Adolescent Medicine, Children's Hospital Medical Center

Susan L. Rosenthal

Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Division of Adolescent Medicine, Children's Hospital Medical Center

Lawrence R. Stanberry

Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio

The purpose of this study is to examine how a previous infection with gonorrhea or another sexually transmitted disease (STD) will impact on patients' knowledge of gonorrhea. Adolescent girls were recruited from a primary-care adolescent clinic. Those with a history of an STD were overrecruited. Participants were given a standardized questionnaire regarding several symptoms and sequelae of STD. The results of this study revealed that girls (N = 248, mean age = 16.9 years) with a personal history of gonorrhea had more correct responses than those with no history of an STD, but they were not statistically different from those with a nongonococcal STD. No group had a mean correct score greater than 6.66 out of 13. Nearly two out of three participants reported that an individual had to always have one of four symptoms (discharge, pain on urination, rash, or sores) when there is a gonococcal infection. Overall, adolescents have an inaccurate foundation of knowledge regarding symptoms and sequelae of gonorrhea. Although those with a previous history of gonorrhea had higher mean scores than those with no history of an STD, they still identified the correct responses only half the time. Additionally, adolescents with a history of gonorrhea or another STD were no more likely to have identified the possibility of asymptomatic infection, despite several having only a history of asymptomatic infection.

Clinical Pediatrics, Vol. 33, No. 10, 601-605 (1994)
DOI: 10.1177/000992289403301005


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