199282 Sexually transmitted infections and sexual risk behaviors: Comparing teenagers and adults in a probability sample of residents of Baltimore, MD, USA

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Elizabeth Eggleston, DrPH , Statistics and Epidemiology, Research Triangle Institute, Washington, DC
Susan M. Rogers, PHD , Statistics and Epidemiology, Research Triangle Institute, Washington, DC
Charles F. Turner, PhD , Health and Behavior Measurement Program, Research Triangle Institute, Washington, DC
Anthony Roman, MA , Center for Survey Research, University of Massachusetts-Boston, Boston, MA
Sylvia Tan, MS , Research Triangle Institute, Washington, DC
William C. Miller, MD; PhD, MPH , Dept. of Medicine; Dept of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Marcia Hobbs , Departments of Medicine and Microbiology & Immunology, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC
Emily Erbelding, MD, MPH , Division of Infectious Disease, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD
Background. Surveillance data indicate that adolescents are at higher risk for acquiring sexually transmitted infections than their adult counterparts. Previous research has associated STI prevalence with sexual risk behaviors that may be more prevalent among teenagers.

Methods. The Monitoring STIs Survey Program (MSSP) monitors the prevalence of STIs in Baltimore, MD using automated telephone self-interviewing (T-ACASI) and urine collection kits sent out and returned by U.S. mail.

We report findings from the first two years of the MSSP on the prevalence of undetected STIs and sexual risk behaviors among Baltimore residents, comparing teenagers aged 15-19 to adults aged 20-35.

Results. Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) rates were significantly higher among teens than among 20-35-year-olds, 7.4% v. 3.3% (p=0.01), but age group differences in T. vaginalis (TV) prevalence were not statistically significant. Teens were significantly more likely than adults to have had more than one sexual partner in the previous year. However, teens were also more likely to have used a condom during most recent sexual intercourse and less likely to have had sex while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. In multivariable logistic regression, age group was not associated with the odds of having CT. Moreover, when analyses were run separately for teens and adults, factors associated with a higher odds of CT infection were the same for both age groups; only nonwhite race and having more than four sexual partners were predictive of CT infection, suggesting the possible role of network and/or biological factors in teens' CT infection risk.

Learning Objectives:
1. Define the prevalence of undetected CT and TV among teens (aged 15-19) and adults (aged 20-35) in Baltimore, MD. 2. Compare the prevalence of sexual risk behaviors among teens and adults in Baltimore. 3. Identify the demographic characteristics and sexual risk behaviors associated with CT and TV infection among 15-35 year-olds in Baltimore.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the primary author of the paper.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.