Syphilis positivity among men who have sex with men (MSM) with direct, indirect, and no linkage to female sex partners: Exploring the potential for sex network bridging in Baltimore City, MD

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Sex Transm Dis
• Personal Author:
  Schumacher, Christina M ; Thornton, Nicole ; Craig, Taylor ; Tilchin, Carla ; Fields, Errol ; Ghanem, Khalil G ; Hamill, Matthew M ; Latkin, Carl ; Rompalo, Anne ; Ruhs, Sebastian ; Jennings, Jacky M
• Description:
  Background
  
  Syphilis epidemics among women and men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) may be connected, but these connections are poorly understood. Using egocentric network data from a U.S. urban MSM cohort, we examined socio-demographics, behaviors, and syphilis positivity among MSM with (1) direct (MSM who report sex with women, MSMW); (2) indirect (MSM who only report male partners, some of whom are MSMW, MSMO/W); and (3) no (MSM who only report male partners and whose partners only have sex with men, MSMO/O) connection to women.
  
  Methods
  
  Sexually-active MSM aged 18–45 years were administered behavioral and network interviews (recall period: three months) and syphilis/HIV testing. Syphilis positivity was defined as RPR titer ≥ 1:8. Modified Poisson regression was used to test for differences across groups.
  
  Results
  
  Among 385 MSM, 14.5% were MSMW and 22.3% were MSMO/W. MSMW and MSMO/W were significantly more likely than MSMO/O to report sex behaviors associated with increased syphilis acquisition/transmission risk, including: ≥ 2 sex partners [MSMW aPR:1.28 (0.98–1.68); MSMO/W aPR:1.35 (1.09–1.69)], concurrent sex partners [MSMW aPR:1.50 (1.17–1.92); MSMO/W aPR:1.39 (1.11–1.74)], and for MSMW only, transactional sex [aPR:2.07 (1.11–3.88)]. Syphilis positivity was 16.4% and was lower among MSMW (9.4%) and MSMO/W (14.1%) than MSMO/O (18.5%), but differences were not significant.
  
  Conclusions
  
  There may be considerable connectivity between MSM and female sex partners that could facilitate syphilis transmission, and behaviors that increase acquisition/transmission risk among MSMW and MSMO/W may be distinct from MSMO/O. Future work should focus on examining the context and temporal patterns of sex partnerships among MSMW and MSMO/W.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Adolescent Adult Baltimore Female HIV Infections Homosexuality, Male Humans Male Middle Aged Risk-Taking Sexual And Gender Minorities Sexual Behavior Sexual Partners Syphilis Young Adult

  More +
• Keywords:
  HIV MSM MSMW Sexual Networks
• Source:
  Sex Transm Dis. 51(11):695-701
• Pubmed ID:
  39008632
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC11560645
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  P30 AI094189/AI/NIAID NIH HHSUnited States/ ; U01 PS005171/PS/NCHHSTP CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  51
• Issue:
  11
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:0de216b49fa6259d559de3a2fb3c7aa673a4b4586b6c448e12a3e533302aeb5900459814ea0db1712f3dcb6223db507cb6c8364cd060d530d6f2868fce37b06e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/169982/cdc_169982_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 135.38 KB ]