title: Risk factors for HIV infection in adults attending sexually transmitted disease clinics in Italy.
abstract: We assessed prevalence and risk factors for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in 637 patients (506 men, 131 women; median age 30 years, range 17-64) attending between September 1988 and July 1989 for the first time two sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics in Northern Italy, for suspected or STD treatment. A total of 44 subjects (6.9%, 95% confidence interval, (Cl): 4.9-8.9) were seropositive for HIV antibodies. The prevalence of HIV infection decreased with age, from 9% in patients aged 24 years or less to 3% in those aged 45 years or more (chi 21 trend 4.97, p less than 0.05). Women tended to have a lower prevalence of infection than men (5.3% versus 7.3%) but this was not statistically significant. Compared with men reporting no homosexual intercourse, HIV infection risk was about 50% higher in those reporting bisexual intercourse (age- and sex-adjusted odds ratio (OR) 1.5,95% Cl: 0.6-3.6) and about fourfold in those reporting only homosexual intercourse (OR 3.8, 95% Cl: 1.7-8.5). No clear trend in risk was observed with number of sexual partners both in men and in women. Intravenous drug users had an increased risk of HIV infection; compared with non-users, the OR was 5.6 (95% Cl: 3.0-10.5) in users, and the point estimates increased with frequency of use, from 3.3 (95% Cl: 0.8-11.5) in occasional users to 6.4 (95% Cl: 3.2-12.8) in regular users. The risk of HIV infection was 2.2 (95% Cl: 1.1-4.3) in patients reporting a history of STD, and 1.6 (95% Cl: 0.8-3.3) in those reporting syphilis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Parazzini
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Naldi
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sena
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cavalieri d'Oro
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bianchi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Manganoni
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pansera
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gramenzi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Goglio
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cainelli
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission*; D015528:HIV Seroprevalence; D006716:Homosexuality; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000150:complications; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous
chemical_list: D015483:HIV Antibodies