[Profile of clients who attended the STI counseling services of the Ludwigsburg Health Department from 2019 to 2024: A retrospective cross-sectional study].

INTRODUCTION

Every day, more than one million people worldwide contract a sexually transmitted infection (STI). While most of these infections are asymptomatic, they can still cause long-term health issues. In 2024, approximately 3.259 new HIV cases were diagnosed in Germany alone. To detect new STI cases early and interrupt chains of infection, Germany's health departments offer anonymous STI counselling under Section 19 of the Infection Protection Act and state-specific health service laws.

OBJECTIVES

This study aims to determine the profile of clients who have attended the Ludwigsburg Health Department's STI counselling services, as well as to analyse the proportion of STI diagnoses and the factors associated with them.

METHODS

This retrospective, cross-sectional study examined data from STI consultations at the Ludwigsburg Health Department between 2019 and 2024. First, a descriptive analysis was performed. The exact Fisher test was then used to examine associations between infections and sociodemographic and behavioural characteristics. Positivity rates for chlamydia and gonorrhoea were analysed across anatomical regions using a test for equality of proportions based on the chi-squared approximation. Paired comparisons of proportions with Bonferroni correction were then performed to investigate specific differences between affected anatomical regions. Temporal trends were analysed using the Cochran-Armitage test and the Mann-Kendall test. The significance level was set at p<0.05. All statistical analyses were performed using R software.

RESULTS AND

CONCLUSION

A total of 9.440 tests were performed during 2.232 STI consultations, resulting in the diagnosis of 135 new infections. Chlamydia and gonorrhoea were the most prevalent infections, particularly among 18- to 29-year-olds and men who have sex with men (MSM). These findings underscore the need for targeted, low-threshold prevention strategies and sustained investment in STI prevention.