A comparison of three rapid chlamydial tests in pregnant and nonpregnant women.

BACKGROUND

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the performance characteristics of three rapid immunoassay tests to detect Chlamydia trachomatis cervicitis.

METHODS

Endocervical samples from 506 women were evaluated using the three rapid immunoassay tests and the results were compared with those obtained by an endocervical chlamydial culture.

RESULTS

The prevalence of C trachomatis cervicitis was 9.3%. Overall sensitivity and specificity of the Abbott TestPack Chlamydia test were 66.0% and 99.8%, respectively, of the Kodak Surecell Chlamydia test were 85.1% and 99.3%, respectively, and of the Unipath Clearview Chlamydia test were 85.1% and 98.5%, respectively. Pregnancy did not affect test specificity, but did influence sensitivity. The tests ranged from 5% to 22% less sensitive in nonpregnant women.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of the investigation establish that the Clearview and Surecell chlamydial immunoassay tests performed well, particularly for pregnant women.