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. 2023 Mar 8;99(7):433–439. doi: 10.1136/sextrans-2022-055696

Table 1.

Baseline characteristics, by STI diagnosis (N=451)

Neisseria gonorrhoeae
(n=35)
Chlamydia trachomatis
(n=136)
Trichomonas vaginalis
(n=28)
Any STI at baseline
(n=174)
No STI at baseline
(n=277)
P value
Site 0.0001
Cape Town, South Africa 21 (60%) 56 (41%) 7 (25%) 72 (41%) 69 (25%)
Johannesburg, South Africa 6 (17%) 50 (37%) 10 (36%) 62 (36%) 100 (36%)
Harare, Zimbabwe 8 (23%) 30 (22%) 11 (39%) 40 (23%) 108 (39%)
Age (years) 0.036
Median (IQR) 20 (18–21) 20 (19–22) 21 (20–24) 20 (19–22) 21 (19–23)
Lives with 0.080
Partner 5 (14%) 24 (18%) 8 (29%) 31 (18%) 67 (24%)
Parents and/or siblings 24 (69%) 75 (55%) 14 (50%) 98 (56%) 160 (58%)
Others 6 (17%) 37 (27%) 6 (21%) 45 (26%) 50 (18%)
Partner age difference 0.154
Less than 5 years 29 (83%) 97 (71%) 19 (68%) 125 (72%) 177 (64%)
≥5 and <10 years 6 (17%) 31 (23%) 7 (25%) 40 (23%) 75 (27%)
≥10 years 0 (0%) 8 (6%) 2 (7%) 9 (5%) 25 (9%)
Partner has made you feel unsafe, afraid or in danger in past year 9 (26%) 20 (15%) 3 (11%) 27 (16%) 63 (23%) 0.069
CES-D score ≥10* 21 (60%) 79 (58%) 16 (57%) 102 (59%) 166 (60%) 0.765
Contraceptive method 0.045
Injectable contraceptives 23 (66%) 68 (50%) 7 (25%) 87 (50%) 104 (38%)
Implants 5 (14%) 25 (18%) 10 (36%) 35 (20%) 69 (25%)
IUD-copper/hormone 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 4 (1%)
Sterilisation 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (4%) 1 (1%) 0 (0%)
Oral contraceptives 1 (3%) 18 (13%) 6 (21%) 20 (11%) 34 (12%)
Condoms, natural methods or none 6 (17%) 25 (19%) 4 (15%) 31 (18%) 66 (24%)
Transactional sex, past month 7 (20%) 28 (21%) 12 (43%) 42 (24%) 59 (21%) 0.489
Anal sex, past month
Yes 7 (20%) 21 (15%) 2/28 (7%) 27 (16%) 41 (15%) 0.391
No 20 (57%) 78 (57%) 17 (61%) 101 (58%) 146 (53%)
Prefer not to answer 8 (23%) 37 (27%) 9 (32%) 46 (26%) 90 (32%)
No of vaginal sex episodes, past month 0.307
Median (IQR) 5 (2–10) 4 (2–6) 6 (4–12) 4 (2–8) 4 (3–8)
Condom use at last vaginal sex† 8 (29%) 33 (31%) 7 (29%) 44 (31%) 96 (45%) 0.033
Coinfection with other STIs
C. trachomatis 19 (54%) 136 (100%) 7 (25%) 136 (78%) 0 (0%)
N. gonorrhoeae 35 (100%) 19 (14%) 1 (4%) 35 (20%) 0 (0%)
T. vaginalis 1 (3%) 7 (5%) 28 (100%) 28 (16%) 0 (0%)
High self-perceived HIV risk in next year‡ 1 (3%) 10 (7%) 3 (11%) 12 (7%) 22 (8%) 0.430
Modified VOICE risk score§ 0.544
Median (IQR) 7 (6–8) 7 (5–7) 6 (5–7) 7 (6–7) 7 (5–7)
PrEP accepted at baseline 33 (94%) 120 (88%) 27 (96%) 157 (90%) 255 (92%) 0.500

*Missing values imputed, n=9 missing responses.

†Missing responses n=33 for those with STI and n=66 for those with no STI.

‡Missing responses n=2 for those with no STI.

§Modified risk score does not include score for curable STI at baseline; includes age <25 years=2, ≥25 years=0; married or living with primary partner no=2, yes =0; partner provides material support no=1, yes =0; primary partner has other partners yes=2, don’t know=2, no=0.

CES-D, Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression; IUD, intrauterine device; PrEP, pre-exposure prophylaxis; STI, sexually transmitted infection.