Patterns of treatment and resource utilisation in the treatment of genital warts in Australian sexual health clinics

The introduction of the quadrivalent vaccine (HPV types 6, 11, 16, 18), GARDASIL, in the National HPV Vaccination program has the potential to eliminate a substantial proportion of the health burden of genital warts, currently the most common sexually transmitted viral disease in Australia. Although there are an estimated 10�000 cases per year managed through sexual health clinics in Australia, there is very limited data on treatment practices and resource use in this setting. A clinical audit was undertaken in five sexual health clinics in different states of Australia. A total of 500 cases (100 consecutive cases per clinic) were identified of patients aged 18 to 45 years with a first ever diagnosis of genital warts between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2004. The average age of cases was 27 years for females and 31 years for males with 43% cases female. There was an average of 2.7 visits per case (range 1-22). Ablative measures (cryotherapy, laser or diathermy) were the most common form of treatment applied in 58% cases (mean per case�=�2.4; range 1-16); topical treatments were prescribed in 44% cases (mean per case�=�1.5; range 1-8) and topical treatments were applied by the health care provider in 22% cases (mean per case�=�1.5; range 1-8). Additional analyses including type of treatment, variation in treatment practices by sexual health clinic and duration of cases will be presented. This study confirms the considerable individual and clinical burden of this common disease.