Risk Of Chlamydia And Gonorrhea Among Young African American Women With Persistent And Episodic Bacterial Vaginosis

This study aimed to assess the influence of episodic and persistent bacterial vaginosis (BV) on incident Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) infection among young African American women in the US. Data from 428 women, were included in this secondary data analysis. All women were asymptomatic for BV at baseline and tested for BV every two months. Persistent cases of BV were positive for BV at month two, four and six. Women who were negative for BV at month two, four and six were classified as no BV. All other cases were defined as episodic BV. Incident STI was defined as any new case of CT or NG at month eight. Factors associated with STI acquisition were assessed using Binary Logistic Regression. The final model was adjusted for age, education, women who have sex with women and BV status. Most women were ≤21 years (55.8%) and completed some post high school/GED education (50.9%). There were 179 (41.8%) women with persistent BV, 204 (47.7%) women with episodic BV and 45 (10.5%) women with no BV. At month eight 8.6% of women tested positive for an STI. Bivariate analysis demonstrated a significant association between women with no BV and STI acquisition (p=0.02). Women with no BV did not acquire an STI, 7.3% of women with persistent BV acquired and STI and 11.7% of women with episodic BV acquired an STI. Women with high school or more than high school education compared to women with less than high school education had decreased odds of developing an STI (Adjusted Odds Ratio (adjOR): 0.38; 95% CI: 0.15–0.92; and adjOR: 0.31; 95%CI: 0.13–0.73). At least a high school education was associated with increased odds of STI acquisition compared to less than high school education. STI acquisition was only observed among women with BV.