TABLE 1.
Association between reported demographic and exposure variables and recent syphilis infection among blood donors in São Paulo, Brazil (n = 2439)
| Demographic or exposure variable | Recent syphilis (n = 278)* | Past syphilis (n = 2161)* | p Value | OR (95% CI) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male gender | 202 (72.7) | 1464 (67.8) | 0.1 | 1.3 (1.0–1.7) |
| Age (years)† | <0.0001 | |||
| ≤20 | 20 (7.2) | 16 (0.7) | 36.5 (15.8–84.1) | |
| 21–30 | 129 (46.4) | 198 (9.2) | 19.0 (10.9–33.3) | |
| 31–40 | 75 (27.0) | 638 (29.5) | 3.4 (1.9–6.1) | |
| 41–50 | 39 (14.0) | 870 (40.3) | 1.3 (0.7–2.4) | |
| >50 | 15 (5.4) | 438 (20.3) | 1.0 | |
| Donor category | 0.02 | |||
| Replacement | 123 (44.2) | 1166 (54.0) | 1.0 | |
| Community | 155 (55.8) | 993 (46.0) | 1.5 (1.2–1.9) | |
| Autologous | 0 (0) | 1 (0.05) | ||
| Number of previous donations† | <0.001 | |||
| 0 | 170 (61.2) | 1284 (59.4) | 1.0 | |
| 1 | 18 (6.5) | 221 (10.2) | 0.7 (0.4–1.0) | |
| 2 | 46 (16.6) | 129 (6.0) | 2.7 (1.9–3.9) | |
| ≥3 | 40 (14.4) | 516 (23.9) | 0.6 (0.4–0.8) | |
| Sexual orientation | <0.001 | |||
| Homosexual | 9 (3.2) | 9 (0.4) | 8.2 (3.2–20.8) | |
| Bisexual | 7 (2.5) | 5 (0.2) | 11.4 (3.6–36.3) | |
| Heterosexual | 261 (94.0) | 2132 (98.7) | 1.0 | |
| Two or more sexual partners in the past 12 months | 85 (30.6) | 274 (12.7) | 0.01 | 2.3 (1.3–4.0) |
| Ever had sex with a sex worker | 34 (12.2) | 412 (19.1) | 0.006 | 1.7 (1.2–2.5) |
| History of other STD ever | 37 (13.3) | 596 (27.6) | <0.001 | 0.4 (0.3–0.6) |
| HIV-positive‡ | 5 (1.8) | 1 (0.05) | <0.001 | 39.6 (4.6–339.8) |
| Treatment for syphilis | 21 (7.6) | 591 (27.4) | <0.001 | 0.2 (0.1–0.3) |
| Symptoms for syphilis | 29 (10.4) | 55 (2.6) | <0.001 | 4.5 (2.8–7.1) |
*
Data are reported as number (%).
†
Totals may be less due to missing data.
‡
Confirmed by two other EIAs and Western blot in another sample.