Race/Ethnicity Is Associated with Disparities in Gonorrhea Rates in New York City, 2009

Yusuf Ransome, Columbia University
Kaydian Reid, College of New Rochelle
Valerie Newsome, National Development and Research Institutes (NDRI)

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) pose significant public health problems with implications such as reducing the spread of HIV in the population. Gonorrhea is the second reported STI in the United States as well as in New York City (NYC). Blacks are the racial/ethnic group that bear the greatest burden of gonorrhea infection. We examined whether missing data on race/ethnicity would explain black-white disparities in gonorrhea rates and whether neighborhood race/ethnic composition would explain any black-white disparities observed. We found that proportion of unknown race/ethnicity explained black-white disparities in gonorrhea rates for females. Next, neighborhoods with a higher composition of black residents had higher gonorrhea rates overall, and had higher mean black-white disparities in gonorrhea for females. More complete information on race/ethnicity among persons diagnosed with gonorrhea is critical to elucidate possible structural/neighborhood determinants of black-white disparities. STI prevention should focus on to communities with high proportion of black residents.