Open AccessBurden of Genital Warts in Colombia: An Observational Study
Author(s) -
Joaquin Gustavo Luna Rios,
Mónica Rojas,
Miguel Cashat,
Glorian P. Yen,
Alexandra Altland,
Homero Monsanto,
Claudia Beltran
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
dst
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2177-8264
pISSN - 0103-4065
DOI - 10.5327/dst-2177-8264-20203222
Subject(s) - genital warts , medicine , sex organ , observational study , incidence (geometry) , epidemiology , primary care , family medicine , gynecology , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , physics , syphilis , biology , optics , genetics
Genital warts are benign lesions caused by sexual transmission of human papillomavirus types 6 and 11, with significant impact on healthcare resource use and patients’ quality of life. Objective: To describe the epidemiology of genital warts in adults visiting a physician office for any reason, physician practice patterns, and healthcare resource use and costs in Colombia. Methods: Participants were a convenience sample of 53 physicians in 5 specialties: primary care (15), gynecology (24), urology (12), proctology (1), and dermatology (1). Physicians completed a survey and daily log of all patients 18-60 years old seen over 10 days in their practices in 2016-2017. The physician survey recorded genital warts consultation and management patterns. The daily log recorded patient demographic information and genital warts diagnosis. Results: Among 6,393 patients logged by physicians, the genital warts prevalence was 2.03% (95%CI 1.69–2.38) and incidence 1.30% (95%CI 1.02–1.58). Primary care physicians referred most of their genital warts cases for treatment (female: mean 63.3%, SD=44.8; male: mean 58.3%, SD=43.8). Treatment of non-resistant episodes (<6-month duration) lasted an average of 37.4 days (SD=29.4) and required an average of 4.0 (SD=1.9) office visits for females and 3.0 (SD=1.7) for males. The overall mean cost of an episode of care was USD558.13 (SD=507.30). Conclusion: Genital warts cases reported by most participant physicians were mainly direct-consult, but patients were typically treated by specialists. Much of the genital warts health care utilization and costs reported could be prevented by immunization with the quadrivalent or nonavalent HPV vaccine.