A clinical audit investigating Pacific people and sexually transmitted diseases: A Pacific health provider perspective.

Abstract

Pacific people are at high risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Insufficient research on the sexual health of Pacific people in New Zealand (NZ) has limited understanding of STI occurrence in this population. This study investigated a clinical audit dataset of Pacific patients with STIs between 2007 and 2017 enrolled at a Pacific health provider in Auckland, New Zealand (NZ).

A dataset comprising Pacific patients diagnosed between 2007 and 2017 with chlamydia, gonorrhoea, trichomonas, genital warts, or genital herpes were analysed using SPSS. Four hundred and fifty-three cases of STIs were identified, and 305 patients were included in the final analysis. The analysis investigated ethnicity, age, gender, area of residence, and NZ-born and Island-born status. The aim was to identify any significant trends or patterns of disease.

The findings highlighted that the three most common STIs were chlamydia (66.0%), trichomoniasis (21.1%), and gonorrhoea (10.1%) in the study sample, with genital warts (2.1%) and genital herpes (0.7%) representing a small number of cases. Samoans (86.0%) comprised the most significant proportion of STI cases, followed by Cook Islanders (6.6%), Tongan (3.6%), Tuvaluan (0.7%), and Tokelauan (0.5%). The majority of STI cases (288) were within the 25–44 year age group, with females having the highest number of STI cases across STI types, except for gonorrhoea. Otara (23.2%), Mangere (12.5%), and Manurewa (9.1%) were identified as key areas of infection as they represented almost half of the total number of STI cases. Most Pacific patients with STIs were NZ residents; however, the majority were born in the Pacific.

Studies characterising STI epidemiology among Pacific populations are scarce despite the disproportionately high burden of the disease. In New Zealand, Pacific people are at high risk of contracting STIs, particularly Pacific females. These findings are valuable for raising awareness about the adverse impact of STIs on Pacific women’s reproductive health and encouraging testing and screening amongst Pacific women. Furthermore, by understanding the burden of STIs in New Zealand at an ethnic-specific Pacific level, Pacific-specific health services can tailor culturally appropriate interventions.