Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #114993

Anne F. McIntyre, MPH¹, Gregory Huhn, MD, MPHTM², Jennifer M. Broad, MPH³, Steve W. Holmes⁴, Alice Studzinski⁴, Charlie Rabins, MPH⁴, and Mark S. Dworkin, MD, MPH&TM². (1) School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2121 West Taylor Street, MC 923, Chicago, IL 60612, (708)386-6002, amcint1@uic.edu, (2) Division of Infectious Diseases, Illinois Department of Public Health, 160 N. LaSalle St., #7South, Chicago, IL 60601, (3) STD/HIV Prevention and Care Program, Chicago Department of Public Health, 530 East 31st Street, Chicago, IL 60612, (4) STD Section, Illinois Department of Public Health, 525 West Jefferson St, Springfield, IL 62761

Background: Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among persons in high morbidity areas represent a failure of public health prevention efforts. Methods: During 2002, Risk Assessment Surveys (RAS) were administered to clients at 36 Illinois STD/health department clinics, 7 family planning clinics, 7 HIV clinics, and 2 jails. These data were merged with Illinois and Chicago Departments of Public Health 2002 STD surveillance databases including laboratory results for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. Client encounters in Illinois during 2002 with RAS data and concomitant STD and HIV tests were evaluated. Multivariate analysis was performed to assess factors associated with laboratory-confirmed STDs. Results: Among 27,609 client encounters (representing approximately 25,575 clients), 4,800 (17.4%) had one or more STDs. Compared to client encounters with no STDs, those with positive STD results were more likely to be aged <20 years (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.3-1.6), male (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.5-1.7), black (OR 2.3, 95% CI 2.1-2.5) or Hispanic (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.3-1.7), and HIV-positive (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.6-3.0). STD diagnoses were more likely to occur during encounters where clients reported multiple sexual partners in the past year (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.4-1.6), previous STDs (OR 1.2, 95% CI 1.1-1.3), and seldom or never using condoms (OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.2-1.5). Conclusions: Client encounters at STD clinics where young age, minority race/ethnicity, high-risk behaviors, and/or HIV infection were present increased the likelihood of STD diagnoses. Enhanced public health strategies are needed to strengthen prevention messages targeted to clients with these risk factors.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe methods of merging multiple public health surveillance databases. Identify risk factors associated with STD infection in a high morbidity area. Develop strategies to enhance prevention messages to the highest risk clients of STD clinics.

Keywords: STD, Sexual Risk Behavior

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.