Previous STI and risk of HIV infection in men

To determine the prevalence of a previous history of sexually transmitted infection (STI) and its influence as a risk factor for HIV infection among men tested for HIV, data from men having a voluntary HIV test at the STI Unit of Barcelona during a 6-month period of 1998 were analysed. Descriptive and logistic regression analysis were done to examine the prevalence of previous STI and factors associated with HIV infection. Prevalences of HIV were 5.6% in homo/bisexual and 0.5% in heterosexual men (P<0.001). Risk factors for HIV were STI history: odds ratio (OR)=8.7 and homo/bisexual behaviour: OR=6.6; 19.8% of heterosexuals had a history of STI compared with 44.2% of homo/bisexual men (P<0.01). A previous STI was associated with HIV seropositivity in homosexual men.