An evaluation of the applicability of quantitative clinical standards for the management of genital chlamydial infection using an electronic database

Abstract

A prototype electronic database was designed for use as a retrospective audit tool to provide data that allowed comparison of genital chlamydial infection management performance with a series of quantitative operational consensus standards. However, some of the terms used by the standards require further definition for translation into database fields to improve accuracy and general application as an audit tool. Construction of the database involved differentiation between prior and clinic diagnostic points, as well as a forward contact trail of specific quantitative indicators of contact tracing. More definition is needed of the meaning of diagnosis and contact in the standards. For clinic-diagnosed patients, the time to treatment was mainly dependent on clinical factors, not on the availability of a chlamydial test result. For about one-third of patients (with prior management), several standards cannot be applied because data are not available, and this raises the issue of data sharing between various agencies involved in chlamydial testing. More data from other clinics may help both to test the appropriateness of, and inform, some of the operational standards. The database could be developed as a real-time audit tool for use with electronic patient records.