1. 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.
- Author
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Nyitray AG, Quinn KG, John SA, Walsh JL, Schim van der Loeff MF, Wu R, Eastwood D, and McAuliffe TL
- Subjects
- Adult, Cities, Homosexuality, Male, Humans, Male, Pandemics, Sexual Behavior, United States, COVID-19 epidemiology, HIV Infections diagnosis, HIV Infections epidemiology, Sexual and Gender Minorities, Sexually Transmitted Diseases diagnosis, Sexually Transmitted Diseases epidemiology
- Abstract
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., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: None declared., (Copyright © 2022 American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2022
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