Preferred Name
Kathleen Beigh
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
ORCID
0009-0006-9948-1212
Date of Graduation
12-16-2023
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
Department
School of Nursing
Advisor(s)
Dr. Erica Lewis
Dr. Kristina Blyer
Abstract
Approximately one in five individuals in the United States has had a sexually transmitted infection (STI). Individuals between 15 to 24 years are considered a ‘higher risk’ for developing new STIs than other age groups. Many STIs are treatable but difficult to detect and carry significant health implications. Chlamydia and gonorrhea can be treated effectively with antibiotics if detected early. STIs are challenging to diagnose due to having few or no symptoms and often go undetected and untreated. A specific concern related to STIs is misdiagnosis as a lower urinary tract infection (LUTI) only in persons born with a vagina when there are coexisting STI and LUTI infections. It may be beneficial for healthcare providers to test for both urinary tract infections (UTIs) and STIs when patients born with a vagina present with LUTI symptoms. This quality improvement project was the first step in a multi-cycle project aimed at better understanding and addressing chlamydia and gonorrhea in the high-risk population of persons born with a vagina who presented to a University Health Center (UHC) with LUTI symptoms. The intervention, screening persons with LUTI symptoms for both STIs and LUTIs when presenting to the UHC clinic, was implemented over approximately two months. The most frequently reported responses were discomfort/pain before, during or after urination (15, 93.75%). Many participants responded feeling an unusual urge to urinate (14, 87.50%). Most study participants were positive for a LUTI (15, 83.33%). One study participant had both an STI and a LUTI showing both infections can and do, co-occur. Recommendations for changes are made for the second cycle of this project. These recommendations may inform others wishing to do similar work.
Recommended Citation
Beigh, Kathleen, "Sexually transmitted infection prevalence in college students with urinary tract infection symptoms: A pilot study" (2023). Doctors of Nursing Practice (DNP) Final Projects, 2020-current. 32.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/dnp202029/32
