Quantifying Rurality: County-Level Case Rates of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae in the United States...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Epidemiology
• Infectious Disease Prevention

Background:

• Preventative sexually transmitted infection (STI) services, including screening, present unique barriers for individuals in rural communities.
• Understanding geographic disparities in STI prevalence is crucial for targeted public health interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare national chlamydia and gonorrhea case rates between rural and urban communities from 2016 to 2022.
• To analyze temporal trends in STI incidence across different geographic settings.

Main Methods:

• Aggregated annual national data on chlamydia and gonorrhea case rates were calculated for rural and urban counties.
• Data spanned the years 2016 through 2022.
• Comparative analysis of case rates and trends was performed.

Main Results:

• Consistently higher chlamydia and gonorrhea case rates were observed in urban counties compared to rural counties throughout the study period.
• Both urban and rural STI case rates exhibited similar trajectories over the 2016-2022 timeframe.
• This suggests shared influencing factors on STI trends regardless of community type.

Conclusions:

• While urban areas report higher STI case rates, the similar trends indicate that factors affecting STI incidence may transcend rural-urban divides.
• Further research is needed to understand the specific barriers in rural areas and the common drivers of STI trends.
• Public health strategies should consider both geographic-specific needs and overarching trends in STI prevention and control.