National Journal Magazine Finds Fault With Data Behind CDC Teen STI Study

Main Category: Sexual Health / STDs
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 03 Jun 2008 - 6:00 PDT

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The National Journal Magazine on Saturday questioned the validity of CDC's recent headline-grabbing finding that about 25% of U.S. girls and young women ages 14 to 19 have at least one of four common sexually transmitted infections.

According to the Journal Magazine, the CDC study examined sexually transmitted "infections," most of which never develop into "disease," although news accounts and a CDC release conflate the two terms. The Journal Magazine also found fault with the study because it covered a broad age range and did not report findings in two-year age groupings; culled the one-in-four number from a complex database that included only several hundred women under age 20; and did not put STI rates in a "historical context" that made clear that infection rates for the "most serious" STIs -- syphilis, gonorrhea and chancroid -- are sharply below 1990 levels.

The Journal Magazine criticized CDC for failing to point out that none of the 18- or 19- year-old women in the study were infected with HIV or syphilis, the "most feared" STIs. The most common infection in the study was human papillomavirus -- accounting for two-thirds of the infected females in the study -- which "can have serious consequences but in the vast majority of cases disappears on its own," according to the Journal Magazine.

The Journal Magazine reports that "rival" advocates "pounced" on the study. Some groups said the study showed that abstinence-only education programs funded by the Bush administration has not worked and should be transferred to comprehensive programs, while other groups said it showed the failure of sex education and condom promotion. John Douglas, director of CDC's Division of STD Prevention, said that the study cannot settle the dispute between abstinence-only and comprehensive sex education programs because it did not compare STI rates among teens who did or did not participate in abstinence-only programs, the Journal Magazine reports.

Although CDC officials "try to stay clear of politics," the study was "closely associated" with CDC's funding aspirations, according to the Journal Magazine. Funding for CDC's STD programs has been reduced since 2003 to $150 million annually for the current fiscal year. The agency asked for $267 million for the programs last year. Don Clark, executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors, said that some of the "really good press" the study received has enabled the group to "get the (budget) discussion on the table." CDC officials said they acted appropriately in releasing the findings of the study. CDC Director Julie Gerberding in a statement said, "As the nation's health protection agency ... we pride ourselves in following three core values -- accountability, respect and integrity. In all my years as director, I have never been pressured or asked to make any decisions which were not based on the sound scientific research that the world expects from CDC" (Munro, National Journal Magazine, 5/31).

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