Data from: Geospatial mobility, non-local partners, concurrent sexual partnerships, and gender influence longitudinal STI prevalence in rural eastern Africa

Mobility challenges HIV prevention efforts through associated risk
behaviours and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). We characterized
relationships between mobility and sexual risks on STI prevalence over
time in East Africa. Geospatial mobility and sexual risk behaviours were
collected in 12 communities using a sex- and HIV-stratified random
sub-sample of 2,750 adults from a longitudinal cohort (2015-2019) of a HIV
test-and-treat trial in Kenya and Uganda. Annual Chlamydia trachomatis
(CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) testing was performed, and
relationships of prevalent STIs with mobility, sexual concurrency, and
higher HIV-risk sexual partners (defined as one-night stand, stranger,
commercial sex worker/client, casual partner, or inherited
partner/inheritor) were examined. The annual prevalence of CT or
NG among 2,665 participants tested was 3.1% (95 % CI: 2.5-3.9) at
baseline, 3.3% (95 % CI: 2.6-4.0) at year 1, 4.4 % (95 % CI: 3.0-5.2) at
year 2, and 4.8 % (95 % CI: 4.0-5.7) at year 3. STI (CT, NG) prevalence
was associated with migration in the past year, sexual partnership
concurrency, being single, higher HIV-risk partners, age > 25, low
household wealth, and the relationship between gender and work-related
travel in past six months. The association between select STI prevalence
and past six-months travel was mediated by higher HIV-risk sexual
partners, partnership concurrency, out-of-town partner, and higher
HIV-risk transactional sex partners. Geospatial mobility, sexual
concurrency, and higher HIV-risk partnerships significantly influence
longitudinal CT and/or NG prevalence in East Africa.