Prevalence of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) among Adolescents Attending Genitourinary Medicine Clinic Hospital Kuala Lumpur between 2014 and 2018

ABSTRACT

Background@#Adolescents, who aged between 10 and 19 years old, comprise about 20% of the world’s population. They are vulnerable to acquisition of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Here, we aim to determine the demography and pattern of STIs among adolescents attending Genito-Urinary Medicine (GUM) Clinic, Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL).@*Methods@#This is a retrospective study on all adolescents attending GUM clinic between 2014 and 2018. Data was obtained from case notes and further analysed.@*Results@#A total of 111 adolescents attended GUM clinic between 2014 and 2018. The mean age was 18 years (range 12-19). The male to female ratio was 2.261. All patients were Malaysian. Only 2 were foreign nationals. The majority were Malays (85.3%) followed by Indians (11%) and Chinese (3.7%). About 46.8% were still schooling, 28.8% were employed and 23.4% were unemployed. About 8.3% had a history of substance abuse. The majority (67.6%) were heterosexual, about 17.1% were homosexual and 3.6% were bisexual. Nearly 95% engaged in unprotected sex. Majority (46%) had casual sex. The most frequent presenting symptoms for male and female adolescents were discharge (43.2%) followed by swelling/growth (23.4%). About 83% had confirmed STIs. The most common STIs among the male were gonorrhoea (44.1%), genital warts (23.4%) and non-gonococcal urethritis (14.7%). The most common STIs among the female were herpes genitalis (50%), genital warts (33.3%) and syphilis (8.3%). Six patients were infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).@*Conclusion@#The most common STI among adolescents between 2014 and 2018 was gonorrhoea for male and herpes genitalis for female.