Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding Syphilis Screening Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in San Francisco

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Sex Transm Dis
• Personal Author:
  Katz, Kenneth A. ; Raymond, Henry Fisher ; Bernstein, Kyle T. ; Klausner, Jeffrey D.
• Description:
  Background:
  
  Syphilis screening for men who have sex with men (MSM) in San Francisco (SF) is recommended every 3 to 6 months. We surveyed MSM in SF to determine the prevalence and factors associated with complying with that recommendation, identify screening barriers, and investigate whether identifying low perceived syphilis risk as a reason for not testing correlated with syphilis risk factors.
  
  Methods:
  
  We conducted a cross-sectional survey as part of the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance System. We used logistic regression to analyze factors associated with complying with the SF-specific screening recommendation and with identifying low perceived risk as a reason for not testing. We analyzed data on screening barriers descriptively.
  
  Results:
  
  Among 441 MSM, 37.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 31.5%–43.6%) complied with the recommendation. Compliance was associated with human immunodeficiency virus infection (odds ratio [OR], 3.6; 95% CI, 1.7–7.8), more than 10 male sex partners (OR, 4.3; 95% CI, 1.6–12.0), having unprotected anal sex with a casual partner (OR, 4.2; 95% CI, 2.0–8.9), and knowing the recommendation (OR, 4.1; 95% CI, 2.1–8.2). Low perceived risk, time constraints, and not knowing that one should get screened were identified as reasons for not testing by 61.7%, 18.9%, and 18.8%, respectively. Identifying low perceived risk as a reason for not testing was associated with having more than 10 sex partners (OR, 0.2; 95% CI, 0.1–0.5).
  
  Conclusions:
  
  Attempts to improve compliance with the syphilis screening recommendation should include education regarding recommended screening frequency and syphilis risk factors and interventions to increase screening convenience.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Cross-Sectional Studies Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice Homosexuality, Male Humans Logistic Models Male Mass Screening Middle Aged Patient Compliance Prevalence Risk-Taking Risk Factors San Francisco Sexual Behavior Sexual Partners Surveys And Questionnaires Syphilis Time Factors

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• Source:
  Sex Transm Dis. 40(4):318-322
• Pubmed ID:
  23486497
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC6955147
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/ ; U62 PS000961/PS/NCHHSTP CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  40
• Issue:
  4
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:821b24873cbe5b8de98c77f7fb04e4c01081d740707576e3e07f5ffb0720f98a49b3336c47870846d93d7ee6c0f196313be01404d628a8db2902f9bab46c0d40
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/84249/cdc_84249_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 78.78 KB ]