Table 1. Clinical characteristics of HIV-infected patients with early syphilis receiving 1 dose or 3 weekly doses of benzathine penicillin G.
| All patients (n = 573) | 1-dose (n = 295) | 3-dose (n = 278) | P-value | |
| Age, mean (SD), years | 33.1 (7.8) | 32.8 (7.9) | 33.5 (7.8) | 0.27 |
| Risk for HIV transmission, n (%) | ||||
| MSM | 539 (94.1) | 284 (96.3) | 255 (91.7) | NA |
| Heterosexuals | 23 (4.0) | 8 (2.7) | 15 (5.4) | NA |
| Others | 11 (1.9) | 3 (1.0) | 8 (2.9) | NA |
| Syphilis stage, n (%) | ||||
| Primary | 51 (8.9) | 28 (9.5) | 23 (8.3) | 0.66 |
| Secondary | 331 (57.8) | 173 (58.6) | 158 (56.8) | 0.67 |
| Early latent | 191 (33.3) | 94 (31.9) | 97 (34.9) | 0.48 |
| RPR titer, median [IQR] | 1∶64 (32, 128) | 1∶64 (32, 128) | 1∶64 (32, 128) | 0.61 |
| CD4 count, mean (SD), cells/µl | 457 (244) | 462 (239) | 452 (249) | 0.62 |
| CD4≤200, n (%) | 71 (12.4) | 33 (11.2) | 38 (13.7) | 0.38 |
| CD4≤350, n (%) | 207 (36.1) | 103 (34.9) | 104 (37.4) | 0.54 |
| PVL, mean (SD), log10 copies/ml | 3.04 (1.49) | 3.02 (1.51) | 3.06 (1.48) | 0.73 |
| PVL <400 copies/ml, n (%) | 305 (53.2) | 156 (52.9) | 149 (53.6) | 0.87 |
| Prior history of syphilis n (%) | 203 (35.4) | 103 (34.9) | 100 (36.0) | 0.79 |
| CART, n (%) | 362 (63.2) | 194 (65.8) | 168 (60.4) | 0.26 |
Abbreviations: CART, combination antiretroviral therapy; IQR, interquartile range; MSM, men who have sex with men; PVL, plasma HIV RNA load; RPR, rapid plasma reagin; SD, standard deviation.