Date of Conferral
2021
Degree
Ph.D.
School
Public Health
Advisor
Wen-Hung Kuo
Abstract
Neisseria gonorrhoeae has been on the rise in the State of Florida since 2013. Florida currently follows the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for identifying those at-risk for gonorrhea and drug resistant gonorrhea infections. These groups are narrowly defined and do not consider the different population dynamics throughout the State. This study examined the question of who is at-risk for contracting drug resistant strains of gonorrhea in the eight different regions of Florida based on the prescribed use of last-line-of-antibiotic-defense. Florida’s Surveillance Tools and Reporting System provided 12 years of secondary data from 2007 to 2018. The data included 34 risk and demographic variables equaling over 9.5 million data points. The data were analyzed through chi-square, cross tabulation, and multiple logistic regression calculations. The findings indicated that each region had statistically significant unique risk and demographic factors as predictors of drug-resistance. Some of the regions shared similar risk and demographic factors such as age, condom use, and oral sex, with age being the most common factor across most of the regions. Conclusively, the regional findings were not identical to each other, indicating that a uniform application of a statewide intervention is not applicable. These varying factors, most of which are behavioral risk factors, are indicative of the Health Belief Model and the Theory of Reasoned Action. Intervention strategies will need to target specific demographics and risk factors in each region to institute social change and prevent the spread of drug-resistant gonorrhea.
Recommended Citation
Herber, Scott August, "Drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae; Identification of At-Risk Groups in Florida by Regional Variation" (2021). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 9952.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/9952
