Background
In December 2020, an update to the CDC STI Guidelines was published for the treatment of uncomplicated Neisseria gonorrhoeae (GC) and the common co-infection of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT). These prescribing changes reflect goals of antimicrobial stewardship and antimicrobial susceptibility. Previous studies assessed guideline prescribing adherence; however, there is no current literature to assess the impact of these updates. The results will be used to further evaluate the impact of the 2021 CDC STI Treatment Guidelines on prescribing patterns in the Emergency Department (ED).
Methods
This study was a single-center, retrospective cohort study which included patients treated for an STI (GC/CT) in the ED at an academic medical center between February 1, 2020 and August 31, 2021, > 19 years of age, and discharged from the ED. The primary endpoint is to determine if the updated guidelines contributed to a reduced incidence of appropriate guideline directed therapy for ED treatment of STIs. Secondary endpoints include ED patients still in need of STI treatment 30-days post-ED discharge, ED patients lost to follow-up within 30 days post-ED discharge and repeat ED visit for STI within 30 days.
Results
A total of 1049 patient encounters were screened for inclusion with 338 patient encounters in the Pre-CDC update cohort (PRE) and 346 patient encounters in the Post-CDC update cohort (POST). Results for the primary outcome indicate a statistically significantly reduced incidence of appropriate guideline directed therapy for ED treatment of STIs (PRE = 98.2% vs POST = 62.7%, p< 0.0001). Results for the secondary outcomes were not statistically significant.
Conclusion
The update to the CDC STI Treatment Guidelines led to decreased guideline directed therapy prescribing in an academic medical center ED. There was no difference in ED patients still needing treatment, lost to follow-up, or repeat ED visits for STI within 30 days post ED discharge.
Disclosures
All Authors: No reported disclosures.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.