TY - JOUR
T1 - Sexually Transmitted Infections Diagnosed Among Sexual and Gender Minority Communities During the First 11 Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Midwest and Southern Cities in the United States
AU - Nyitray, Alan G.
AU - Quinn, Katherine G.
AU - John, Steven A.
AU - Walsh, Jennifer L.
AU - Schim van der Loeff, Maarten F.
AU - Wu, Ruizhe
AU - Eastwood, Daniel
AU - McAuliffe, Timothy L.
N1 - Funding Information: Sources of Funding: Supported in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health: National Cancer Institute (R01CA232892-01, PI: Nyitray) and the National Institute of Mental Health (K01-MH112412, PI: Quinn; K01-MH118939, PI: John). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Publisher Copyright: © Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
PY - 2022/10/1
Y1 - 2022/10/1
N2 - BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected sexual health services. Given the burden of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) on sexual and gender minorities (SGMs), we estimated incidence of self-reported STI diagnoses and factors associated with STI diagnoses among SGMs during the pandemic's first year. METHODS: A cohort of 426 SGM persons, 25 years or older, recruited in Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Minneapolis, and Houston completed 5 online surveys from April 2020 to February 2021. Persons self-reported on each survey all health care provider STI diagnoses. Kaplan-Meier was used to estimate the cumulative risk of STI diagnoses, stratified by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status. Factors associated with STI diagnoses were assessed with a longitudinal negative binomial regression. RESULTS: Median age was 37 years, and 27.0% were persons living with HIV (PLH). Participants reported 63 STIs for a cumulative incidence for PLH and HIV-negative persons of 0.19 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.13-0.29) and 0.12 (95% CI, 0.09-0.17), respectively. Regardless of HIV, a younger age and changes in health care use were associated with STI diagnoses. Among HIV-negative persons, the rate of STI diagnoses was higher in Houston than the Midwest cities (adjusted relative risk, 2.37; 95% CI, 1.08-5.20). Among PLH, a decrease in health care use was also associated with STI diagnoses (adjusted relative risk, 3.53; 95% CI, 1.01-12.32 vs no change in health care services), as was Hispanic ethnicity and using a dating app to meet a sex partner. CONCLUSIONS: Factors associated with STI diagnoses during the COVID-19 pandemic generally reflected factors associated with STI incidence before the pandemic like geography, HIV, age, and ethnicity.
AB - BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected sexual health services. Given the burden of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) on sexual and gender minorities (SGMs), we estimated incidence of self-reported STI diagnoses and factors associated with STI diagnoses among SGMs during the pandemic's first year. METHODS: A cohort of 426 SGM persons, 25 years or older, recruited in Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Minneapolis, and Houston completed 5 online surveys from April 2020 to February 2021. Persons self-reported on each survey all health care provider STI diagnoses. Kaplan-Meier was used to estimate the cumulative risk of STI diagnoses, stratified by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status. Factors associated with STI diagnoses were assessed with a longitudinal negative binomial regression. RESULTS: Median age was 37 years, and 27.0% were persons living with HIV (PLH). Participants reported 63 STIs for a cumulative incidence for PLH and HIV-negative persons of 0.19 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.13-0.29) and 0.12 (95% CI, 0.09-0.17), respectively. Regardless of HIV, a younger age and changes in health care use were associated with STI diagnoses. Among HIV-negative persons, the rate of STI diagnoses was higher in Houston than the Midwest cities (adjusted relative risk, 2.37; 95% CI, 1.08-5.20). Among PLH, a decrease in health care use was also associated with STI diagnoses (adjusted relative risk, 3.53; 95% CI, 1.01-12.32 vs no change in health care services), as was Hispanic ethnicity and using a dating app to meet a sex partner. CONCLUSIONS: Factors associated with STI diagnoses during the COVID-19 pandemic generally reflected factors associated with STI incidence before the pandemic like geography, HIV, age, and ethnicity.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85138454981&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1097/OLQ.0000000000001681
DO - https://doi.org/10.1097/OLQ.0000000000001681
M3 - Article
C2 - 35858473
SN - 0148-5717
VL - 49
SP - 687
EP - 694
JO - Sexually transmitted diseases
JF - Sexually transmitted diseases
IS - 10
ER -