27940947

PMC5376234

Background

Current guidelines recommend that all sexually active HIV-infected persons be tested at least annually for syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea. We examined temporal trends in syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea testing among sexually active HIV-infected adults receiving medical care in the United States during 2009–2013.

Methods

Using medical record data from the Medical Monitoring Project, a population-based HIV surveillance system, we assessed the proportion of adults in HIV medical care who were tested for syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea in the past 12 months by year and stratified by sex and sexual behavior, age, and race/ethnicity.

Results

During 2009–2013, the proportion of sexually active HIV-infected adults in medical care who were tested in the past year for all three examined STDs increased from 20% to 36% (PTREND < 0.01). Overall testing for syphilis increased from 55% to 65% (PTREND < 0.01), and significant increases were noted for the following subgroups: MSM (58% to 69%), non-Hispanic whites (48% to 64%), and all age groups with the exception of 18–29 year olds. Overall testing for chlamydia and gonorrhea increased from 22% to 42% (PTREND < 0.01) and significant increases were noted for most sub-groups.

Conclusions

STD testing significantly increased among sexually active HIV-infected adults receiving medical care; however, the majority of persons were not tested for all three STDs in 2013. While increased testing indicates progress, testing remained far below recommended guidelines. Our findings suggest enhanced efforts may be warranted to screen all sexually active HIV-infected adults for syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea.

CDC Public Access

CC999999/Intramural CDC HHS/United States