Nurse intervention using tech may improve PID care in youth

Adolescent and young adult women with pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) are more likely to experience decreases in Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis positivity with a technology-enhanced community health nursing (TECH-N) intervention, according to a study published online Aug. 7 in JAMA Network Open.

Maria Trent, M.D., M.P.H., from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, and colleagues examined the efficacy of a TECH-N intervention versus standard of care for improving PID self-management behaviors and prevalence of N. gonorrhoeae and C. trachomatis. Female patients aged 13 to 25 years of age diagnosed with mild-to-moderate PID were randomly assigned to either standard treatment (137 participants) or the TECH-N intervention (149 participants).

The researchers found that N. gonorrhoeae and C. trachomatis positivity did not differ significantly between the intervention and control groups at 90-day follow-up (4.4 and 10.4 percent, respectively; P = 0.07); however, the intervention group had a significantly higher differential rate of decrease (34.4 versus 4.4 percent compared with 25.6 versus 10.4 percent; P = 0.02). Compared with the control group, intervention participants were significantly more likely to receive the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-recommended short-term follow-up visit (94.2 versus 16.3 percent; P < 0.001).

"The TECH-N intervention showed sufficient success for delivery of the CDC recommendations for interim care and short-term reduction in sexually transmitted infection acquisition and should be considered as a potential enhancement of standard of care approaches," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the biopharmaceutical and medical device industries.

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