TABLE 1.
Demographic and Behavioral Characteristics of MSM Early Syphilis Cases Reporting Use (N = 198 and Non-use (N = 652) of the Internet to Meet Sex Partners January 2001 through December 2003
| Variable | Total | Internet Use (N = 198) |
Internet Non-Use (N = 652) |
Prevalence Ratio (95% Cl) |
P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N (%) | N (%) | ||||
| Age | |||||
| <20 | 12 | 2 (1) | 10 (1.5) | 0.6 | |
| 20–29* | 165 | 39 (20) | 126 (19) | ||
| 30–39 | 372 | 93 (47) | 279 (43) | ||
| 40–49 | 233 | 46 (23) | 187 (29) | ||
| 50+ | 68 | 18 (9) | 50 (8) | ||
| Race/ethnicity† /TD | |||||
| While | 412 | 132 (67) | 280 (43) | 1.6 (1.4–1.8) | <0.001 |
| Black | 90 | 13 (7) | 77 (12) | ||
| Hispanic | 300 | 40 (20) | 260 (40) | ||
| Other/mixed | 68 | 13 (7) | 35 (5) | ||
| Self-reported HIV Serostatus | |||||
| HIV Seropositive‡ | 508 | 123 (62) | 385 (59) | 1.1 (0.9–1.2) | 0.4 |
| Stage of syphilis§ | |||||
| Primary | 139 | 39 (20) | 100 (15) | 1.2 (1.0–1.3) | 0.03 |
| Secondary | 375 | 94 (47) | 281 (43) | ||
| Early latent | 336 | 65 (33) | 271 (42) | ||
| Behavioral risk factors¶ | |||||
| Anal insertive sex | 679 | 172 (87) | 507 (78) | 1.1 (1.1–1.2) | 0.001 |
| Anal receptive sex | 653 | 162 (82) | 491 (75) | 1.1 (1.0–1.2) | 0.03 |
| Oral sex‖ | 791 | 194 (99) | 597 (92) | 1.1 (1.0–1.1) | 0.003 |
| Anonymous partner** | 653 | 178 (90) | 475 (73) | 1.2 (1.1–1.3) | <0.001 |
| Condom use | 233 | 58 (29) | 175 (27) | 1.1 (0.8–1.3) | 0.7 |
| Incarceration†† | 31 | 4 (2) | 27 (4) | 0.5 (0.2–1.3) | 0.1 |
| IV drug use‡‡ | 18 | 8 (4) | 10 (1.5) | 2.7 (1.1–6.7) | 0.03 |
| Non-IV drug use§§ | 241 | 70 (35) | 171 (26) | 1.4 (1.1–1.8) | 0.005 |
Reference for logistic regression.
White vs. non-White used for prevalence ratio calculation.
HIV status provided by self-report during field interview and is not lab confirmed.
Primary and secondary (symptomatic) vs early latent used for odds ratio calculation.
Behavioral risk factors are collected for the “critical period” as defined in the methods section.
Calculations not performed for this association due to the cell count of ‘1’ for internet users not engaging in oral sex
Anonymous partner is defined as a sexual partner for whom the syphilis case was unable to provide any type of identifying or locating information.
Incarceration in the previous year.
IV Drug use includes use of injectable forms of heroin, methamphetamines, cocaine and others.
Non-IV drug use includes the use of oral, inhaled, and/or smoked forms of marijuana, methamphetamines, poppers/nitrates, sildenafil (Viagra), ketamine, ecstasy, cocaine.