application abstract): The candidate, Dr. Diane Blake, has completed fellowship training in adolescent medicine, with a particular emphasis on sexually transmitted diseases in adolescents. She is now an Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine and she proposes a multi-pronged research approach, under the mentorship of Dr. Marianne Felice, (Chair of Pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts), to 1) investigate social and behavioral factors that serve as obstacles to chlamydial screening in adolescent populations; 2) conduct a screening program using urine-based LCR to determine the point prevalence of chlamydia in these two populations and 3) conduct cost effectiveness analysis to determine whether urine-based screening of young people based upon entry into residential setting is cost effective. The project will be phased, involving focus groups that will address issues regarding the knowledge base, perceived barriers, etc. of STD service utilization; construction of a questionnaire that will further explore some of the barriers and ideas for overcoming barriers that were identified in the focus groups; determination of the point prevalence of chlamydia in the populations of these residential settings; followed by analysis of the cost-effectiveness of screening in preventing of sequaelae of untreated chlamydial infections.
