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Epidemiology, Monitoring and Evaluation
P3.201 Disparities in chlamydia trachomatis seroprevalence across ethnic groups in amsterdam: the role of sexual healthcare seeking behaviour
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  1. Sebastiaan Hulstein1,
  2. Amy Matser1,
  3. Nienke Alberts1,
  4. Marieke Snijder2,
  5. Martina Willhacuk-Fleckenstein3,
  6. Maria Prins1,
  7. Henry De Vries4,
  8. Maarten Schim Van Der Loeff1,
  9. Tim Waterboer3
  1. 1Public Health Service of Amsterdam (GGD Amsterdam), Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  2. 2Academic Medical Centre, Department of Public Health, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  3. 3German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
  4. 4Academic Medical Centre, Department of Dermatology, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Abstract

Introduction In the Netherlands, there are strong disparities in Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) prevalence among ethnic groups. The highest prevalence is found among individuals from Surinamese descent. Previous research suggested that socio-economic status (SES) may be important in explaining these differences. In ethnic groups with high CT prevalence, low SES might lead to infrequent sexual healthcare seeking behaviour. We investigated whether differences in sexual healthcare seeking behaviour could explain disparities in CT prevalence between ethnic groups in the Netherlands.

Methods We used the 2011–2014 baseline data of HELIUS, a population-based multi-ethnic cohort study in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. CT was diagnosed using a multiplex serology assay. A directed acyclic graph was created to depict the hypothesised causal links between ethnicity and CT infection. The associations between CT seropositivity and its determinants were assessed with logistic regression analyses.

Results The sample consisted of 1977 individuals, with a median age of 28 (IQR 24–31) of which 52.9% were female. CT seropositivity was highest among African-Surinamese (69.7%), followed by Ghanaian (67.9%), South-Asian Surinamese (39.8%), Dutch (36.4%), Moroccan (35.2%) and Turkish (30.5%) participants. Sexual healthcare seeking behaviour was highest among Afro-Surinamese and Ghanaian participants. After adjusting for sexual healthcare seeking behaviour, SES and sexual risk behaviour, being of African-Surinamese (adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR]: 3.97; 95% CI 2.41–6.55) or Ghanaian (aOR: 2.48; 95% CI 1.27–4.86) descent remained strongly associated with CT seropositivity when compared to Dutch participants.

Conclusion Disparities in CT (sero)prevalence across ethnic groups in Amsterdam were observed and in line with literature. Higher CT seroprevalence in African-Surinamese and Ghanaian participants could not be explained by differences in sexual healthcare seeking behaviour, or other potential mediators of the association (e.g. SES and sexual risk behaviour).

https://doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2017-053264.436

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