Trends in Selected Measures of Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Gonorrhea and Syphilis in the United States, 1981 – 2013

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Sex Transm Dis
• Personal Author:
  Chesson, Harrell W. ; Patel, Chirag G. ; Gift, Thomas L. ; Aral, Sevgi O.
• Description:
  Background
  
  The purpose of this study was to examine selected measures of racial and ethnic disparities in the reported incidence of syphilis and gonorrhea from 1981 to 2013 in the United States.
  
  Methods
  
  For each year from 1981 to 2013, we calculated values for five disparity measures (Gini coefficient, two versions of the index of disparity, population attributable proportion, and the black-to-white rate ratio) for five racial/ethnic categories (Non-Hispanic White, Non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Asian/Pacific Islander). We also examined annual and 5-year changes to see if the disparity measures agreed on the direction of change in disparity.
  
  Results
  
  With a few exceptions, the disparity measures increased from 1981 to 1993 and decreased from 1993 to 2013, whereas syphilis and gonorrhea rates decreased for most groups from 1981 to 1993 and increased from 1993 to 2013. Overall, the disparity measures we examined were highly correlated with one another, particularly when examining 5-year changes rather than annual changes in disparity. For example, all five measures agreed on the direction of change in the disparity of syphilis in 56% of the annual comparisons and in 82% of the 5-year comparisons.
  
  Conclusions
  
  Although the disparity measures we examined were generally consistent with one another, these measures can sometimes yield divergent assessments of whether racial/ethnic disparities are increasing or decreasing for a given STD from one point in time to another, as well as divergent assessments of the relative magnitude of the change.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Adolescent Adult Asian Black People Ethnicity Female Gonorrhea Health Status Disparities Hispanic Or Latino Humans Indians, North American Minority Groups Syphilis White People Young Adult

  More +
• Source:
  Sex Transm Dis. 43(11):661-667.
• Pubmed ID:
  27893593
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC5905678
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/Intramural CDC HHS/United States
• Place as Subject:
  New York
• Volume:
  43
• Issue:
  11
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:a8893fcf2bbb54623160d3828b5c0cc8ccaf9d0a07faba4174897c913ada90db
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/53607/cdc_53607_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 623.21 KB ]