IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i8p2679-d345424.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Proximity to Screening Site, Rurality, and Neighborhood Disadvantage: Treatment Status among Individuals with Sexually Transmitted Infections in Yakima County, Washington

Author

Listed:
  • Solmaz Amiri

    (Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology, Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, Washington State University, Spokane, WA 99202, USA)

  • Christine D. Pham

    (School of Molecular Biosciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99163, USA)

  • Ofer Amram

    (Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology, Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, Washington State University, Spokane, WA 99202, USA)

  • Karl C. Alcover

    (Program of Excellence in Addiction Research, Elson S Floyd College of Medicine, Washington State University, Spokane, WA 99202, USA)

  • Oladunni Oluwoye

    (Program of Excellence in Addiction Research, Elson S Floyd College of Medicine, Washington State University, Spokane, WA 99202, USA)

  • Lilian Bravo

    (Yakima County Health District, Yakima, WA 98903, USA)

  • Melissa Sixberry

    (Yakima County Health District, Yakima, WA 98903, USA)

  • Michael G. McDonell

    (Program of Excellence in Addiction Research, Elson S Floyd College of Medicine, Washington State University, Spokane, WA 99202, USA)

  • John M Roll

    (Program of Excellence in Addiction Research, Elson S Floyd College of Medicine, Washington State University, Spokane, WA 99202, USA)

  • Andre Fresco

    (Yakima County Health District, Yakima, WA 98903, USA)

Abstract

Background : Early sexually transmitted infections (STIs) diagnosis facilitates prompt treatment initiation and contributes to reduced transmission. This study examined the extent to which contextual characteristics such as proximity to screening site, rurality, and neighborhood disadvantage along with demographic variables, may influence treatment seeking behavior among individuals with STIs (i.e., chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis). Methods : Data on 16,075 diagnosed cases of STIs between 2007 and 2018 in Yakima County were obtained from the Washington State Department of Health Database Surveillance System. Multilevel models were applied to explore the associations between contextual and demographic characteristics and two outcomes: (a) not receiving treatment and (b) the number of days to receiving treatment. Results: Contextual risk factors for not receiving treatment or having increased number of days to treatment were living ≥10 miles from the screening site and living in micropolitan, small towns, or rural areas. Older age was a protective factor and being female was a risk for both outcomes. Conclusions: Healthcare providers and facilities should be made aware of demographic and contextual characteristics that can impact treatment seeking behavior among individuals with STIs, especially among youth, females, and rural residents.

Suggested Citation

  • Solmaz Amiri & Christine D. Pham & Ofer Amram & Karl C. Alcover & Oladunni Oluwoye & Lilian Bravo & Melissa Sixberry & Michael G. McDonell & John M Roll & Andre Fresco, 2020. "Proximity to Screening Site, Rurality, and Neighborhood Disadvantage: Treatment Status among Individuals with Sexually Transmitted Infections in Yakima County, Washington," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-11, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:8:p:2679-:d:345424
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/8/2679/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/8/2679/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Monnet, Elisabeth & Ramée, Cécile & Minello, Anne & Jooste, Valérie & Carel, Didier & Di Martino, Vincent, 2008. "Socioeconomic context, distance to primary care and detection of hepatitis C: A French population-based study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(5), pages 1046-1056, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Astell-Burt, Thomas & Flowerdew, Robin & Boyle, Paul J. & Dillon, John F., 2011. "Does geographic access to primary healthcare influence the detection of hepatitis C?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(9), pages 1472-1481, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:8:p:2679-:d:345424. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.