Sociodemographic characteristics and health-related factors associated with having unmet STI testing need during two periods of the first year of the UK’s pandemic response
| Lookback period (period number) | March–June/July 2020 (P1) | July–November/December 2020 (P2) | ||||||||||
| Sample composition, col % (n) | (Row) % have unmet STI testing need (n) | uOR (95% CI) have unmet STI testing need | P value | aOR (95% CI)* have unmet STI testing need | P value | Sample composition, col % (n) | Row % have unmet STI testing need (n) | uOR (95% CI) have unmet STI testing need | P value | aOR (95% CI)* have unmet STI testing need | P value | |
| All† | 100.0 (1950) | 26.0 (499) | – | – | – | 100.0 (1463) | 32.4 (474) | – | – | – | – | |
| Sociodemographic characteristics | ||||||||||||
| Age (years) | ||||||||||||
| Under 30 | 24.6 (479) | 25.3 (121) | 1 | 0.001 | 1 | 0.534 | 26.5 (388) | 36.9 (143) | 1 | 0.094 | 1 | 0.378 |
| 30–44 | 35.3 (688) | 27.5 (189) | 1.12 (0.86 to 1.46) | 1.02 (0.78 to 1.35) | 37.8 (553) | 30.7 (170) | 0.76 (0.58 to 1.00) | 0.86 (0.64 to 1.15) | ||||
| 45 and over | 40.2 (783) | 24.1 (189) | 0.94 (0.72 to 1.22) | 0.90 (0.68 to 1.18) | 35.7 (522) | 30.8 (161) | 0.76 (0.58 to 1.01) | 0.82 (0.61 to 1.09) | ||||
| Sexual identity | ||||||||||||
| Gay | 86.1 (1678) | 24.3 (408) | 1 | 0.002 | 1 | 0.001 | 83.4 (1220) | 30.5 (372) | 1 | 0.001 | 1 | 0.019 |
| Bisexual‡ | 14.0 (272) | 33.5 (91) | 1.56 (1.19 to 2.06) | 1.64 (1.23 to 2.18) | 16.6 (243) | 42.0 (102) | 1.65 (1.24 to 2.19) | 1.42 (1.06 to 1.90) | ||||
| Ethnicity | ||||||||||||
| White§ | 88.6 (1728) | 24.8 (428) | 1 | 0.023 | 1 | 0.023 | 87.8 (1284) | 32.2 (414) | 1 | 0.733 | 1 | 0.734 |
| All other ethnic groups¶ | 11.4 (222) | 32.0 (71) | 1.43 (1.06 to 1.93) | 1.44 (1.05 to 1.98) | 12.2 (179) | 33.5 (60) | 1.06 (0.76 to 1.48) | 1.06 (0.75 to 1.51) | ||||
| Country of residence in the UK | ||||||||||||
| England | 86.1 (1679) | 24.3 (408) | 1 | 0.002 | 1 | <0.001 | 84.3 (1233) | 31.0 (382) | 1 | 0.008 | 1 | 0.056 |
| Outside England | 13.9 (271) | 33.6 (91) | 1.57 (1.20 to 2.07) | 1.71 (1.29 to 2.27) | 15.7 (230) | 40.0 (92) | 1.49 (1.11 to 1.99) | 1.34 (0.99 to 1.81) | ||||
| Born in the UK | ||||||||||||
| Yes | 78.1 (1523) | 25.1 (382) | 1 | 0.335 | – | n.a. | 76.9 (1125) | 32.8 (369) | 1 | 0.549 | – | n.a. |
| No | 21.9 (427) | 27.4 (117) | 1.13 (0.88–1.44) | – | 23.1 (338) | 31.1 (105) | 0.92 (0.71 to 1.20) | – | ||||
| Highest educational qualification | ||||||||||||
| Degree or higher | 59.0 (1149) | 25.2 (290) | 1 | 0.660 | – | n.a. | 57.4 (840) | 30.5 (256) | 1 | 0.068 | – | n.a. |
| Below degree | 41.1 (800) | 26.1 (209) | 1.05 (0.85 to 1.29) | – | 42.6 (623) | 35.0 (218) | 1.23 (0.98 to 1.53) | – | ||||
| Employed (inc. furlough**) | ||||||||||||
| Yes | 77.2 (1497) | 26.9 (403) | 1 | 0.012 | 1 | 0.012 | 74.9 (1095) | 31.8 (348) | 1 | 0.385 | 1 | 0.884 |
| No | 22.8 (442) | 21.0 (93) | 0.72 (0.56 to 0.93) | 0.71 (0.55 to 0.93) | 25.2 (368) | 34.2 (126) | 1.12 (0.87 to 1.44) | 1.02 (0.78 to 1.33) | ||||
| Health-related factors | ||||||||||||
| HIV status | ||||||||||||
| Negative/Unknown | 89.9 (1753) | 24.5 (429) | 1 | 0.001 | 1 | <0.001 | 89.4 (1308) | 33.0 (432) | 1 | 0.130 | 1 | 0.048 |
| Positive | 10.1 (197) | 35.5 (70) | 1.70 (1.25 to 2.32) | 2.06 (1.48 to 2.86) | 10.6 (155) | 27.1 (42) | 0.75 (0.52 to 1.09) | 0.68 (0.46 to 1.00) | ||||
| PrEP use (in the lookback period) | ||||||||||||
| No | 86.4 (1677) | 25.4 (426) | 1 | 0.607 | 1 | 0.275 | 77.0 (1125) | 36.7 (413) | 1 | <0.001 | 1 | <0.001 |
| Yes | 13.6 (264) | 26.9 (71) | 1.08 (0.81 to 1.45) | 1.19 (0.87 to 1.61) | 23.1 (337) | 18.1 (61) | 0.38 (0.28 to 0.52) | 0.38 (0.28 to 0.52) | ||||
| Life satisfaction level | ||||||||||||
| Medium–very high | 68.8 (1340) | 26.6 (357) | 1 | 0.104 | – | n.a. | 75.6 (1106) | 31.2 (345) | 1 | 0.085 | – | n.a. |
| Low | 31.2 (608) | 23.2 (141) | 0.83 (0.66 to 1.04) | – | 24.4 (357) | 36.1 (129) | 1.25 (0.97 to 1.60) | – | ||||
Unmet STI testing need, defined as reporting one or more new sex partners and/or multiple CAS partners in the lookback period without testing for STIs during the same period.
*Adjusting for: age; sexual identity; ethnicity; country of residence; employment status; HIV status; PrEP use.
†Cisgender MSM.
‡Including ‘Bisexual’ (S1: n=220; S2: n=179); ‘Other’ (S1: n=44; S2: n=50); ‘Straight’ (S1: n=8; S2: n=14).
§Including ‘White British’ (S1: n=1426; S2: n=1045); ‘White Irish’ (S1: n=75; S2: n=55); ‘White other’ (S1: n=227; S2: n=184).
¶Including ‘Black’ (S1: n=31; S2: n=41); ‘Asian’ (S1: n=101; S2: n=63); ‘Mixed or other’ (S1: n=90; S2: n=75).
**The UK government paid 80% of the salary of those who were unable to work due to COVID-19 restrictions.15
aOR, adjusted OR; CAS, condomless anal sex; CI, confidence interval; MSM, men who have sex with men; n.a., not applicable; PrEP, pre-exposure prophylaxis; uOR, unadjusted OR.