All new STI diagnoses among people accessing sexual health services* in England. Data represent STI diagnoses among people who are resident in England. Data is presented by area of patient residence and include those residents in England and those with an unknown residence (data for those residents outside of England is not included). Data is expressed as a rate per 100,000 population.*Sexual health services providing STI related care (Levels 1, 2 or 3). Further details on the levels of sexual healthcare provision are provided in the Standards for the Management of STIs.
Rationale
A summary figure of all new STI diagnoses.
Definition of numerator
The number of new STI diagnoses among people accessing sexual health services in England who are also residents in England.
STI data excluding chlamydia is sourced from the GUMCAD STI Surveillance System (Levels 2 and 3). GUMCAD data is reported by SHSs providing STI related care (Levels 2 or 3). Chlamydia data is sourced from GUMCAD (Level 3) and CTAD Chlamydia Surveillance System (Levels 1 and 2), UKHSA. CTAD data is reported by laboratories conducting testing for any service (Levels 1, 2 or 3) providing chlamydia testing.
The Episode Activity codes (SNOMED or Sexual Health and HIV Activity Property Types (SHHAPT)) relating to diagnosis of: chancroid, Lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV), donovanosis, chlamydia, gonorrhoea, first episode anogenital herpes, new HIV diagnosis, molluscum contagiosum, non-specific genital infection (NSGI), pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and epididymitis: non-specific, scabies and pediculosis pubis, syphilis (primary, secondary and early latent), trichomoniasis, first episode genital warts were used.
In 2015, the new STI diagnoses group was expanded to include new codes that were not previously reported via GUMCADv2. The new codes include: Mycoplasma genitalium (C16); Shigella: flexneri, sonnei and unspecified (SG1, SG2, SG3).
The clinical criteria used to diagnose the conditions are given at https://www.bashh.org/guidelines .
Data was de-duplicated to ensure that a patient received a diagnostic code only once for each episode. Patients cannot be tracked between services and therefore de-duplication relies on patient consultations at a single service.
Definition of denominator
The denominators for 2012 to 2022 are sourced from Office for National Statistics (ONS) population estimates based on the 2021 Census.
Population estimates for 2023 were not available at the time of publication – therefore rates for 2023 are calculated using estimates from 2022 as a proxy.
Further details on the ONS census are available from the https://www.ons.gov.uk/census .
Caveats
Every effort is made to ensure accuracy and completeness of GUMCAD data, including web-based reporting with integrated checks on data quality. However, responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of data lies with the reporting service.
Data is updated on an annual basis due to clinic or laboratory resubmissions and improvements to data cleaning. Data may differ from previous publications.
Figures reported in 2020 and 2021 are notably lower than previous years due to the disruption to SHSs during the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic.