Open AccessExtent and sufficiency of STD/HIV disease intervention specialists in the United States of America, 2016
Author(s) -
Jami S. Leichliter,
Dan Lentine,
Gretchen Weiss
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
sexual health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.117
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1449-8987
pISSN - 1448-5028
DOI - 10.1071/sh20222
Subject(s) - medicine , syphilis , gonorrhea , public health , sexually transmitted disease , family medicine , workforce , intervention (counseling) , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , environmental health , nursing , economics , economic growth
Disease intervention specialists (DIS) conduct partner notification for STD and HIV to interrupt the transmission of STD/HIV. In 2016, we collected information from health departments in the United States of America to determine the number of DIS and whether this number was sufficient for STD/HIV prevention. We identified 1610 STD/HIV DIS positions in the USA and 379 DIS supervisory positions. Of DIS positions, 85% were filled indicating potential issues with turnover. Using nationally reportable data from 2016, we found that states with more primary and secondary syphilis cases had more DIS. DIS participated in public health emergencies in 57% of states. Most USA states indicated that the DIS workforce was not sufficient for STD/HIV prevention. Knowledge of information about DIS workload (e.g. number of STD/HIV cases assigned per DIS) would be helpful.