Table 2.
Distribution of baseline male and female partner characteristics by penile community type (CT).
| CT-1, N = 48 | CT-2, N = 42 | CT-3, N = 19 | CT-4, N = 33 | CT-5, N = 39 | CT-6, N = 15 | CT-7, N = 22 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taxa with highest mean relative abundance (mean RA, %) |
Corynebacterium (15.2%) Anaerococcus (12.3%) Streptococcus (6.8%) |
Corynebacterium (55.4%) Staphylococcus (15.8%) |
Streptococcus (59.3%) Corynebacterium (9.1%) |
Sneathia sanguinegens (32.9%) Gardnerella vaginalis (7.4%) |
Finegoldia magna (27.8%) Anaerococcus (21.0%) Peptoniphilus (12.7%) |
Lactobacillus iners
(62.5%) Corynebacterium (11.1%) |
Clostridiales Family XI (19.2%) Peptoniphilus (13.2%) Prevotella timonensis (11.1%) |
| Median years age (IQR) | 26 (24–30) | 27 (24–30) | 26 (25–29) | 25 (22–29) | 27 (24–29) | 27 (22–31) | 26.5 (24–31) |
| Educational attainment | |||||||
| Primary or less | 13 (27.7) | 24 (57.1) | 6 (31.6) | 16 (48.5) | 17 (43.6) | 7 (46.7) | 14 (63.6) |
| Some secondary or more | 34 (72.3) | 18 (42.9) | 13 (68.4) | 17 (51.5) | 22 (56.4) | 8 (53.3) | 8 (36.4) |
| Currently employed | 37 (78.7) | 32 (76.2) | 15 (79.0) | 29 (87.9) | 32 (82.0) | 10 (66.7) | 18 (81.8) |
| Circumcised | 34 (70.8) | 36 (85.7) | 14 (73.7) | 24 (72.7) | 3 (7.7) | 9 (60.0) | 1 (4.6) |
| HIV positive | 3 (6.3) | 7 (16.7) | 1 (5.3) | 3 (9.4) | 6 (15.8) | 3 (20.0) | 2 (9.1) |
| HSV-2 positive | 17 (35.4) | 21 (50.0) | 9 (47.4) | 18 (56.3) | 18 (46.2) | 6 (40.0) | 11 (50.0) |
| Condom frequency past 6 months^ | |||||||
| Never | 30 (62.5) | 20 (47.6) | 10 (52.6) | 19 (57.6) | 25 (64.1) | 11 (73.3) | 19 (86.4) |
| Sometimes | 14 (29.2) | 17 (40.5) | 7 (36.8) | 13 (39.4) | 12 (30.8) | 3 (20.0) | 3 (13.6) |
| Always | 4 (8.3) | 5 (11.9) | 2 (10.5) | 1 (3.0) | 2 (5.1) | 1 (6.7) | 0 (0.0) |
| Condom used at last sex | 9 (18.8) | 12 (28.6) | 3 (15.8) | 2 (6.1) | 8 (20.5) | 2 (13.3) | 0 (0.0) |
| Number of sex partners past 6 months | |||||||
| One | 40 (83.3) | 35 (83.3) | 12 (63.2) | 18 (54.6) | 30 (76.9) | 12 (92.3) | 14 (66.3) |
| Two or more | 8 (16.7) | 7 (16.7) | 7 (36.8) | 15 (45.4) | 9 (23.1) | 1 (7.7) | 7 (33.3) |
| When washed penis after last sex | |||||||
| <1 h | 12 (25.0) | 15 (35.7) | 2 (10.5) | 12 (36.4) | 5 (12.8) | 1 (6.7) | 2 (9.1) |
| 1 h or more | 36 (75.0) | 27 (64.3) | 17 (89.5) | 21 (63.6) | 34 (87.2) | 14 (93.3) | 20 (90.9) |
| Median days since last sex prior to study visit (IQR) | 3 (2–7.75) | 5 (3–8) | 5 (4–8) | 4 (2–7) | 4 (3–8) | 4 (2–9) | 5 (3–8.25) |
| Alpha diversity measures: Median (IQR) | |||||||
| Shannon | 2.05 (1.68–2.24) | 1.35 (1.10–1.56) | 1.33 (1.16–1.75) | 2.08 (1.82–2.37) | 2.01 (1.76–2.21) | 1.24 (0.97–1.41) | 2.09 (2.09–2.50) |
| Simpson | 0.82 (0.74–0.85) | 0.63 (0.49–0.68) | 0.61 (0.46–0.74) | 0.80 (0.76–0.86) | 0.81 (0.75–0.83) | 0.57 (0.49–0.67) | 0.87 (0.80–0.89) |
| Evenness | 0.66 (0.59–0.70) | 0.49 (0.40–0.55) | 0.52 (0.38–0.59) | 0.63 (0.58–0.69) | 0.61 (0.56–0.66) | 0.44 (0.38–0.51) | 0.72 (0.66–0.75) |
| Richness | 22.5 (18–25.75) | 16 (14–19.75) | 16 (13–24) | 27 (23–34) | 26 (21–31) | 17 (11–22) | 26 (23.5–29) |
| Female partner characteristics | |||||||
| Median age in years (IQR) | 22 (20–26) | 22 (20–26.25) | 23 (21–24) | 22 (20–25) | 24 (20–25) | 21 (20–22) | 24 (20–25.25) |
| HIV positive | 4 (8.5) | 4 (9.5) | 0 (0.0) | 3 (9.4) | 5 (12.5) | 2 (13.3) | 4 (18.2) |
| HSV-2 positive | 24 (50.0) | 21 (50.0) | 9 (47.4) | 24 (72.7) | 20 (51.3) | 11 (73.3) | 12 (54.6) |
| Nugent Score | |||||||
| 0–3 | 35 (74.5) | 29 (69.0) | 11 (64.7) | 19 (61.3) | 28 (71.8) | 7 (46.7) | 12 (54.6) |
| 4–6 | 2 (4.3) | 7 (16.7) | 4 (23.5) | 3 (9.7) | 5 (12.8) | 6 (40.0) | 2 (9.1) |
| 7–10 | 10 (21.8) | 6 (14.3) | 2 (11.8) | 9 (29.0) | 6 (15.4) | 2 (13.3) | 8 (36.4) |
| Community State Type | |||||||
| I: Lactobacillus crispatus | 1 (2.1) | 4 (9.5) | 2 (11.8) | 2 (6.2) | 7 (18.0) | 1 (6.7) | 1 (4.8) |
| II: Lactobacillus gasseri | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (3.1) | 1 (2.6) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) |
| III: L. iners | 23 (46.8) | 23 (54.8) | 8 (47.1) | 10 (31.3) | 14 (35.9) | 8 (53.3) | 8 (38.1) |
| IV: G. vaginalis | 24 (51.1) | 14 (33.3) | 7 (41.2) | 19 (59.4) | 17 (43.6) | 6 (40.0) | 12 (57.1) |
| V: Lactobacillus jensenii | 0 (0.0) | 1 (2.4) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) |
| Pregnant (urine HCG positive) | 2 (4.2) | 5 (11.9) | 1 (5.3) | 3 (9.4) | 2 (5.4) | 3 (20.0) | 7 (31.8) |
| Contraceptive use | |||||||
| Implant | 12 (25.0) | 11 (26.2) | 4 (21.1) | 10 (30.3) | 14 (35.9) | 6 (40.0) | 5 (22.7) |
| Injectable | 11 (22.9) | 8 (19.1) | 0 (0.0) | 6 (18.2) | 8 (20.5) | 2 (13.3) | 5 (22.7) |
| Median (IQR) days since last menstrual period among non-pregnant women | 24 (10–55.75) | 23.5 (8.25–112) | 15 (6–23.75) | 18 (6.5–31.5) | 14.5 (6.25–39.5) | 21 (8.25–40.75) | 17 (4–35) |
| Median (IQR) days since last menstrual period among non-pregnant women, not using hormonal contraceptives | 15 (5–42) | 18 (8–38) | 16.5 (5.75–21.5) | 19 (5–25.75) | 17 (7–52) | 16 (9–25) | 6.5 (3–18.5) |
IQR, interquartile range; HSV-2, herpes simplex virus type 2.
^Because so few men reported “always” using condoms, “sometimes” and “always” were combined in analyses.