Prevalence and predictors of sexually transmitted infections in hazardously-drinking incarcerated women

Abstract

Incarcerated women are at high risk for sexually transmitted infections. Left untreated, these infections can have severe adverse health effects. In this study the authors present prevalence rates of trichomonas, chlamydia, and gonorrhea, and factors related to having a sexually transmitted infection in a sample of 245 hazardously-drinking incarcerated women who reported heterosexual intercourse in the previous 3 months. Vaginal swabs were collected following the self-report baseline assessment. Participants averaged 34.0 (±8.8) years of age; 174 (71.3%) were non-Hispanic Caucasian, 47 (19.3%) were African-American, 17 (7.0%) were Hispanic, and 6 (2.5%) were of other racial or ethnic origins. Twenty-three percent of participants tested positive for chlamydia, trichomonas, or gonorrhea. Being African-American, more frequent sex with a casual partner, and reporting more than one male partner were significantly positively related to sexually transmitted infection, while more frequent sex with a main partner was inversely related. Due to the high rates of infection in this population, jail admission provides a public health opportunity to access a concentrated group of sexually transmitted infectious women. Sexually transmitted infection testing targeted at specific demographic factors, for instance younger age, will miss infected women. Risky sexual partnerships, as well as the benefit of maintaining stable main partnerships may be important topics during sexually transmitted infection prevention interventions.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00237003.