(P407) An evaluation of syphilis partner services among MSM with early syphilis in King County, WA

Background: Partner notification (PN) has been integral to syphilis control in the U.S. for many years but has never been evaluated in a controlled study.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study comparing PN outcomes among men who have sex with men (MSM) diagnosed with early syphilis (5/1/2020-6/30/2021) in King County, WA. We compared PN outcomes among men for whom health department (HD) staff initiated PN efforts (PN group) and a randomly selected control group of MSM for whom no public health PN efforts were initiated (control). From 7/31/2021-8/27/2021, we interviewed these men about partner outcomes (any partners contacted and/or diagnosed, number of partners notified and tested) after diagnosis. We used chi-square tests and the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test to test for differences in outcomes in the PN and control groups.

Results: We attempted to contact and interview 350 MSM from 7/31/2021-8/27/2021 and successfully reached 208 (59%) men, of whom 92 (44%) participated, including 41 (45%) in the PN group and 51 (55%) controls. Mean time from diagnosis to study interview was 7.3 months. The majority of MSM were white (70%) and non-Hispanic (55, 60%); the mean age of participants was 39 years. The percentage of participants who reported notifying >1 sex partner after diagnosis was similar in the PN and control groups (83% vs. 80%, p=0.80). A larger proportion of men in the PN group reported >1 partner was tested or treated for syphilis (67%) compared to the control group (49%) but this association was of borderline statistical significance (p=0.08). There were no differences in the median number of partners contacted or tested between PN and controls (contacted median[range]: 2 [0-10] vs 2 [0-20], p=0.32; and tested, median[range]: 1 [0-8] vs. 0 [0-10], p=0.15, respectively). While 18 (44%) of patients in the PN group reported that they did contact partners after speaking with HD staff, only 9 (22%) reported providing any partner names to HD staff.

Conclusions: This small, controlled evaluation suggests that PN may increase partner treatment among MSM with syphilis. However, a randomized trial is needed to definitively define the contemporary effectiveness of PN for syphilis among MSM.