Concurrency Among Women <25 Years of Age Screened in Region X IPP FP/RH Clinics, 2009

Background: In January 2009, the Region X Infertility Prevention Project (IPP) began implementing a lab slip, which includes a new sexual risk behavior measure—Did any of your sex partners (SPs) in the last 12 months have sex (of any type) with someone else while they were still in a sexual relationship with you? The Region X IPP decided to collect concurrency data based on the literature, research conducted in California, CDC input and regional interest in concurrency.

Objectives: 1) Describe concurrency among all women <25 years of age screened in Region X IPP family planning/reproductive health (FP/RH) clinics in 2009. 2) Identify implications for service delivery.

Methods: We analyzed CT positivity (CT+) among all women <25 years of age screened in Region X IPP FP/RH clinics, January-June 2009. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted.

Results: Of the 25,578 tests, 17.9% of clients reported that their SPs “definitely,” 39.5% reported “possibly” and 42.5% reported that it was “unlikely” that their SPs had concurrent SPs. CT+ ranged from 6.5% among clients who reported that their SPs “possibly” had concurrent SPs to 5.2% among those who reported that it was “unlikely.” Clients who reported that their SPs “definitely or “possibly” had concurrent SPs were more likely to have behavioral risks and clinical signs on examination. Concurrency was associated with chlamydia independent of other risk factors.

Conclusions: It is feasible to collect concurrency data in IPPs. Clients who reported that their SPs “definitely” or “possibly” had concurrent SPs were at increased risk of chlamydia. This new measure also identified a higher risk subpopulation that was not found through the Region X IPP’s other behavioral measures.

Implications for Programs, Policy, and/or Research: Findings confirm the importance of assessing concurrency, the need to incorporate concurrency in risk reduction counseling, and the potential to use this measure in empirically-based screening decisions.