HONOLULU, March 3 (UPI) -- Five women in long-term monogamous relationships tested falsely positive for gonorrhea in Hawaii clinics over an 8-month period, U.S. researchers reported.
The women all were tested for the sexually transmitted disease using the Roche nucleic acid amplification test from the same laboratory, but the test was not necessarily to blame, according to lead author, Dr. Alan Katz of the University of Hawaii Medical Center.
Any test with a specifity of less than 100 percent has the potential for false positive results, and the potential increases if the test is used to screen people from low-risk populations or those living in areas where gonorrhea rates are low.
Chlamydia is much more common, and sexually active women under 25 should be checked for it routinely, he said.
Katz recommended that doctors learn the sexual history of their patients in order to understand risk factors and interpret test results correctly. Katz also urged doctors to ask young adolescents about their sexual history. "You can't allow your personal issues to compromise your medical care," he said.
