206529 Incarceration and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) in a Probability Sample of Inner-city Young Adults

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Sylvia Tan, MS , 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
Elizabeth Eggleston, DrPH , Statistics and Epidemiology, Research Triangle Institute, Washington, DC
Anthony Roman, MA , Center for Survey Research, University of Massachusetts-Boston, Boston, MA
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
James Chromy, PhD , RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC
Emily Erbelding, MD, MPH , Division of Infectious Disease, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD
  
Objectives: Studies indicate high rates of STIs and HIV among incarcerated populations. The relationship between STIs and a history of incarceration (individuals and their partners) in the general population is less understood.

Methods: The Monitoring STIs Survey Program (MSSP) provides continuous monitoring of trends in three STIs (trichomonas, chlamydial and gonoccocal infection) among a probability sample of young adults in Baltimore, MD. Participants are surveyed through private telephone audio computer-assisted survey interviews (TACASI), and provide urine specimens through the mail. This paper reports on data collected the first two years of the study (2006 - 2008).

Results: Males were 2.3 times (95% CI 1.4, 3.8) more likely to report a history of incarceration than females. Nearly 9% of males had been incarcerated in the past year compared to 4% of females. Of 1,559 respondents providing specimens, 9% tested STI positive; 6% (95% CI 4, 9) of males and 12% (95% CI 10, 15) of females.

Current STI was 3.6 (95% CI 1.9, 6.6) times higher among respondents incarcerated in the past year (24%) than respondents not incarcerated (8%).

Forty percent of females reported an incarcerated partner, compared to 12% of males. Among females reporting an incarcerated partner in the past year, 28% tested STI positive, compared to 10% of women reporting no incarcerated partners in the past year (OR=3.2, 95% CI 1.9, 5.6).

Conclusions: Nearly 24% of young adults in Baltimore with a history of recent incarceration and 28% of females whose partner was recently incarcerated had an undetected STI.

Learning Objectives:
- Assess preliminary findings on STI prevalence among persons with a history of incarceration, and among persons with incarcerated partners, in a population-based survey in Baltimore, Maryland - Explore how population-based surveys such as the MSSP can be useful for identifying trends in untreated STIs among little known populations

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a statistical analyst for the Monitoring STIs Survey Program and will be performing many of the analyses reported on in this 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.

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