Published online Jun 29, 2022. doi: 10.5317/wjog.v11.i3.20
Peer-review started: January 17, 2022
First decision: March 16, 2022
Revised: March 30, 2022
Accepted: June 3, 2022
Article in press: June 3, 2022
Published online: June 29, 2022
One of the main difficulties faced in the prevention of the vertical transmission of syphilis is the inadequate treatment of pregnant women and their partners. The disease causes serious repercussions in infected newborns.
To evaluate the prevalence and factors associated with the therapeutic adhesion among partners of pregnant women with syphilis in a county in Northeastern Brazil.
This is a descriptive, analytic, quantitative, cross-sectional study that was carried out through interviews with 46 pregnant women diagnosed with syphilis between 2017 and 2018 as well as with their partners. The interviews aimed at collecting data regarding sociodemographic characteristics, obstetric variables and information about syphilis, and partners’ related variables.
Our results showed that 73.91% of the partners did not undergo appropriate treatments, and obtaining negative results in syphilis tests was the main reason for the absence of therapies. The following factors were significantly associated with the lack of treatment among partners: Being a partner that is not the current mate of the pregnant woman, having a level of schooling inferior to 8 years [odds ratio (OR) = 10.28], and the pregnant woman undergoing up to two syphilis tests during the prenatal care (OR = 8.6). The study found a higher odds of absent treatment among partners if the pregnant woman is not white (OR = 13.88) or if the partner has less than 8 years of schooling (OR = 21.00) or has a monthly income of less than half the minimum wage (OR = 13.93).
The findings of this study show a high prevalence of partners that are not adequately treated for syphilis, a phenomenon that is strongly associated with socioeconomic factors.
Core Tip: Treating infected pregnant women and their partners is a challenging step in the prevention of syphilis vertical transmission. This study evaluated the prevalence and factors associated with the therapeutic adhesion among partners of pregnant women with syphilis in a county of northeastern Brazil. Here we demonstrated an important lack of treatment among the study partners, which was associated with various socioeconomic factors.