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. 2022 May 31:10:842644.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.842644. eCollection 2022.

Patterns of Sexually Transmitted Co-infections and Associated Factors Among Men Who Have Sex With Men: A Cross-Sectional Study in Shenyang, China

Ze-Hao Ye  1   2   3   4 , Shuo Chen  1   2   3   4 , Fan Liu  1   2   3   4 , Si-Tong Cui  1   2   3   4 , Zhao-Zhen Liu  1   2   3   4 , Yong-Jun Jiang  1   2   3   4 , Qing-Hai Hu  1   2   3   4
Affiliations

Patterns of Sexually Transmitted Co-infections and Associated Factors Among Men Who Have Sex With Men: A Cross-Sectional Study in Shenyang, China

Ze-Hao Ye et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Men who have sex with men (MSM) are disproportionately affected by sexually transmitted infections (STIs). We sought to describe patterns of sexually transmitted co-infections and explore factors associated with increased acquisition of STIs among MSM.

Methods: We enrolled MSM in Shenyang, China, between July and December 2020 to test for four STIs, including human papillomavirus (HPV), Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG), and Treponema pallidum (TP). Data regarding demographic and behavioral characteristics of participants were collected through a self-administered digital questionnaire. We adopted the ordinal logistic regression model to identify factors associated with acquiring more STIs.

Results: Overall, 177 participants with completed test results for all four STIs were analyzed. These participants had a median age of 29.0 (interquartile range: 23.0-38.0) years. The prevalence of STI co-infections was 23.7% [42/177; 95% confidence interval (CI), 17.8%-30.8%], among which HPV/CT (47.1%) and HPV/CT/NG (50.0%) co-infection were the predominant types among participants with dual and multiple infections, respectively. Participants who had a higher educational background [adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 0.46; 95% CI, 0.24-0.85; P = 0.014] and had a history of STIs (aOR, 2.53; 95% CI, 1.24-5.18; P = 0.011) were positively associated with acquiring more STIs.

Conclusions: MSM in Shenyang suffer a substantial burden of sexually transmitted co-infections. An optimized multi-STI integration strategy targeting prevention, surveillance, screening, and treatment is warranted to reduce the prevalence of sexually transmitted co-infections, especially in less-educated MSM.

Keywords: China; MSM; STIs; co-infection; pattern.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Inclusion flowchart. VCT, voluntary counseling and testing; HPV, human papillomavirus; CT, Chlamydia trachomatis; NG, Neisseria gonorrhoeae; TP, Treponema pallidum.
Figure 2
Figure 2
STI co-infections patterns among 177 MSM. HPV, human papillomavirus; CT, Chlamydia trachomatis; NG, Neisseria gonorrhoeae; TP, Treponema pallidum; STI, sexually transmitted infection; MSM, men who have sex with men.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Prevalence of co-infections stratified by HPV, CT, NG, and TP, among 149 MSM with at least one STIs. HPV, human papillomavirus; CT, Chlamydia trachomatis; NG, Neisseria gonorrhoeae; TP, Treponema pallidum; STIs, sexually transmitted infections; MSM, men who have sex with men.
Figure 4
Figure 4
STI co-infections patterns stratified by age groups among 177 MSM. STI, sexually transmitted infection; MSM, men who have sex with men.
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