Gonorrhoea in Greenland: geographic differences in diagnostic activity and incidence of gonorrhoea in 2015

Abstract

For decades the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) has been a health concern in Greenland, especially within the age group of 15–34 year olds. However, no overview exists of the potential differences in regional incidence and management of STIs. This study investigates the age, gender and region specific diagnostic activity and incidence of gonorrhoea in Greenland in 2015. The study design was an observational cross sectional register study with inclusion of patients tested for gonorrhoea in 2015. Patients above 15 years of age were included. Data was obtained from the laboratory system used at The Central Laboratory at Queen Ingrid’s Hospital in Nuuk. We found, in 2015, a total of 17,911 tests for gonorrhoea were performed on both men and women. Women accounted for 68% of the tests, while men accounted for 32%. The positivity rate was 7,878 pr. 100,000 of which 56% were women and 44% were men. The regional distribution showed a disparity of the testing rate and the rate of positive gonorrhoea tests.. Thus, we have documented a high diagnostic activity and high incidence of gonorrhoea in Greenland in 2015 among both women and men. We also found significant regional differences in both diagnostic activity and gonorrhoea incidence

Syphilis in Greenland, 2015 to 2019

“…In Greenland, incidences of chlamydia and gonorrhea are highest among young females, 8 , 9 , 25 indicating mainly heterosexual transmission. This is in line with our findings for syphilis, where females between 15 and 29 years old were most frequently diagnosed.…”

The influence of kinship networks and family relationships on pregnancy dynamics in North Greenland

“…A vast majority of the SRH research in Greenland has focused on the epidemiology of STIs and pregnancy (Gesink et al, 2008;Homoe et al, 2015;Bersten et al, 2017;Homoe et al, 2018). Other studies have considered the influence of geography and access to health care services (Meldgaard, 2004;Moisan et al, 2016;Rink 2016;Berntsen et al, 2017), environmental pollutants (Hjermitslev, 2020), smoking and alcohol use (Bjerregaard and Larsen, 2018), and dietary and physical activity (Long et al, 2015;Terkelson et al, 2018;Watson et al, 2020).…”