Gender differences in testing for syphilis in emergency department patients diagnosed with sexually transmitted diseases

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of gender on the likelihood of syphilis screening in Emergency Department (ED) patients with suspected sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). We reviewed charts of patients diagnosed with STDs in an urban university hospital ED from January 1995 through June 1996. Exclusion criteria included documented history of syphilis, syphilitic lesions, return visit within 30 days of the original ED care, and hospital admission. Records for 208 eligible patients were included in the study. Twenty-two of 45 male patients were screened for syphilis as opposed to 12 of 163 female patients (48.9% vs. 7.4%, respectively). This study demonstrates that male patients diagnosed and treated for STDs are more likely to be screened for syphilis than female patients.