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Obstetrics & Gynecology 2007;110:1364-1370
© 2007 by The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Prenatal Herpes Simplex Virus Serologic Screening Beliefs and Practices Among Obstetricians

Carolyn Gardella, MD, MPH1, Julia Barnes, MD1, Amalia S. Magaret, PhD2, Julie Richards2, Linda Drolette2 and Anna Wald, MD, MPH2,3,4

From the Departments of 1Obstetrics & Gynecology, 2Laboratory Medicine, 3Medicine, and 4Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the beliefs and practices of obstetricians related to prenatal serologic testing for HSV infection.

METHODS: A total of 265 (73% of eligible) currently practicing obstetricians in Washington State completed a 36-question mailed survey that assessed beliefs regarding genital herpes in pregnancy, neonatal herpes, serologic testing for herpes in pregnancy, and ease of testing.

RESULTS: Ninety-five percent of respondents believed genital herpes was common in reproductive-aged women, 83% believed neonatal herpes was a serious health issue, and 73% believed it warranted systematic prevention efforts; 74% discussed herpes with pregnant patients as part of prenatal care, 31% provided written materials about herpes, and 15% used serologic tests for herpes in 75% or more of their prenatal patients. Factors independently associated with routine herpes serologic testing were academic practice setting (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 10.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.8–39.1) and metropolitan practice setting (aOR 3.3, 95% CI 1.4–7.9). Beliefs that testing would cause unnecessary distress in pregnancy (aOR 0.3, 95% CI 0.1–0.7), or that testing was not worth the expense (aOR 0.1, 95% CI 0.0–0.6) were associated with not testing. Availability of serologic tests for HSV was reported to be high and was not associated with prenatal HSV testing.

CONCLUSION: Most obstetricians believe neonatal herpes prevention is important.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II






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