Disparity in availability of laboratory testing for syphilis among different hospitals in Shandong province, eastern China

Background Availability of laboratory testing is the prerequisite for early diagnosis of syphilis. This study aimed to understand the availability of laboratory testing for syphilis among different hospitals in Shandong province. Methods Basic information on hospitals provided clinical health service for sexually transmitted infections in Shandong province and type of laboratory tests for syphilis provided was collected and analyzed using Chi-square test. Results A total of 410 and 456 hospitals provided sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinical services were surveyed in 2012 and 2018, respectively. Significant differences in the availability of nontreponemal tests were observed among hospitals with different levels (X 2 =6.624, p=0.010) and types (X 2 =17.752, p=0.001) in 2012 but not in 2018. A significant difference in the availability of treponemal tests was observed at different levels in 2012 (X 2 =9.937, p=0.002) but not in 2018. Significant differences in the availability of nontreponemal tests, titre of nontreponemal tests, and treponemal tests were observed among hospitals with different affiliations in 2018 (p=0.000; X 2 =15.274, p=0.000; p=0.021) but not in 2012. The availability of both nontreponemal test and treponemal test for syphilis among hospitals in 2018 was higher than that in 2012 (90.13% vs. 57.56%, X 2 =121.219, p=0.000). Conclusions Further efforts are needed to reduce the disparity in availability of laboratory testing for syphilis among different hospitals in China.