Poor provider adherence to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention treatment guidelines in US emergency department visits with a diagnosis of pelvic inflammatory disease.

BACKGROUND: Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is commonly diagnosed in US emergency departments (EDs). We aimed to estimate national rates of provider adherence to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) treatment guidelines for PID among patient visits, with a diagnosis of acute PID in US ED settings.

METHODS: A multiyear cross-sectional analysis was performed on ED visits from females >12 years old, using the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey database from 1999 to 2006. The ED diagnoses of acute PID were identified from the database. Specific antibiotics ordered or provided during ED visits diagnosed with PID were identified and compared to contemporary CDC treatment guidelines to determine provider adherence. Analyses were performed using procedures for multiple-stage survey data.

RESULTS: Overall, 1,605,000 discharged ED patient visits with a diagnosis of acute PID were identified. ED provider adherence to CDC treatment guidelines was 30.5% (95% confidence intervals [CI], 24.4%-36.7%). Doxycycline was the most commonly missing medication from the recommended regimens while azithromycin was the most prescribed antibiotic that was not recommended until 2006 CDC guidelines. Additionally, among the visits without being given any CDC-recommended antibiotics, 38.4% were prescribed neither antibiotics nor pain relievers. In multivariate analysis, those without specialty consultation during ED visits and those before the announcement of 2002 guidelines were 4.95 (95% CI, 1.71-14.29) and 1.93 (95% CI, 1.14-3.27) times less likely to receive CDC-recommended antibiotic regimens versus their counterparts.

CONCLUSIONS: Poor provider adherence to the CDC-recommended treatment guidelines for PID has been widespread in US EDs, especially for women who did not receive specialty consultation.