Associations between County-level Voter Turnout, County-level Felony Voter Disenfranchisement, and Sexually Transmitted Infections among Women in the Southern United States

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Ann Epidemiol
• Personal Author:
  Haley, Danielle F. ; Edmonds, Andrew ; Schoenbach, Victor J. ; Ramirez, Catalina ; Hickson, DeMarc A. ; Wingood, Gina M. ; Bolivar, Hector ; Golub, Elizabeth ; Adimora, Adaora A.
• Description:
  Purpose.
  
  Voting may play a critical role in the allocation of social and structural resources to communities, which in turn shapes neighborhood environments, and ultimately, an individual’s sexually transmitted infection (STI) risk. We assessed relationships among county-level voter turnout and felony voter disenfranchisement, and STIs.
  
  Methods.
  
  This cross-sectional multilevel analysis included 666 women in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and North Carolina enrolled in the Women’s Interagency HIV Study between 2013 and 2015. Having a baseline bacterial STI (chlamydia, gonorrhea, trichomoniasis, or early syphilis) was determined by laboratory testing. We used generalized estimating equations to test relationships between county-level voter turnout in the 2012 general election, county-level percentage of felony disenfranchised voters, and STI prevalence.
  
  Results.
  
  Eleven percent of participants had a STI. Higher voter turnout corresponded to lower STI prevalence (PR=0.84, 95% CI=0.73–0.96 per 4 percentage point higher turnout). Greater felony voter disenfranchisement corresponded to higher STI prevalence (PR =1.89, 95% CI=1.10–3.24 per 4 percentage point higher disenfranchisement).
  
  Conclusion.
  
  STI prevalence was inversely associated with voter turnout and positively associated with felony voter disenfranchisement. Research should assess causality and mechanisms through which civic engagement shapes sexual health. Expanding political participation, including eliminating discriminatory voting laws, could influence sexual health.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Adult Article Civil Rights Criminals Cross-Sectional Studies Felony Voter Disenfranchisement Female Gonorrhea Humans Multilevel Analysis Political Participation Politics Prisoners Residence Characteristics Sexually Transmitted Diseases Sexually Transmitted Infections Socioeconomic Factors Syphilis United States Women Young Adult

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• Source:
  Ann Epidemiol. 29:67-73.e1
• Pubmed ID:
  30442564
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC6344302
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  U01 AI103397/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/United States ; U01 PS003315/PS/NCHHSTP CDC HHS/United States ; UL1 TR000454/TR/NCATS NIH HHS/United States ; UL1 TR002378/TR/NCATS NIH HHS/United States ; U01 AI103401/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/United States ; U01 AI103390/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/United States ; U01 AI103408/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/United States ; P30 AI050410/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/United States ; U01 AI042590/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/United States
• Volume:
  29
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:762661de442970391ea9323e9bf05dab44ce90f2da3dd03c6e23eaee577937a2
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/70143/cdc_70143_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 98.20 KB ]