Effects of partner notification on reducing gonorrhea incidence rate

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to estimate the effectiveness of partner notification (PN) by linking measures of PN with the gonorrhea incidence rate in New York State exclusive of New York City. STUDY DESIGN: Gonorrhea cases were identified from the Communicable Disease Confidential Case Reports system. Case interview data were obtained from the case management database. Gonorrhea incidence data and interview data were aggregated from individual records and then linked at the county level. RESULTS: From 1992 to 2002, 100,756 gonorrhea cases were reported and 37% were interviewed. A total of 34,807 partners were elicited from 37,393 index cases: 18,291 (52.5%) partners sought medical evaluation, 10,159 (29.2%) received preventive treatment, and 7,474 (21.5%) were infected and treated. The gonorrhea incidence rate was inversely correlated with the percent of partners given preventive treatment and positively related to the percent of infected partners. CONCLUSIONS: Our study adds new evidence that PN is an effective mechanism to detect new cases and interrupt disease transmission within communities.