Decreasing seroprevalence of herpes simplex virus type 1 and type 2 in Germany leaves many people susceptible to genital infection: time to raise awareness and enhance control

Korr, Gerit; Thamm, Michael; Czogiel, Irina; Poethko-Mueller, Christina; Bremer, Viviane; Jansen, Klaus

doi:10.1186/s12879-017-2527-1

Table 1 Associations between variables and HSV1 seropositivity in women, Germany 2008–2011

From: Decreasing seroprevalence of herpes simplex virus type 1 and type 2 in Germany leaves many people susceptible to genital infection: time to raise awareness and enhance control

Variables	N	Weighted^a prevalence %	(95% CI)	Univariable Analysis		Multivariable Analysis
Variables	N	Weighted^a prevalence %	(95% CI)	PR^b(95% CI)	p-value	PR^c(95% CI)	p-value
Age group (years)
18–24	283	51.4	(45.3–57.5)	Ref	Ref	Ref	Ref
25–34	400	70.4	(64.6–75.5)	1.4 (1.2–1.6)	0.000	1.2 (1.0–1.4)	0.057
35–44	519	82.4	(77.9–86.1)	1.6 (1.4–1.8)	0.000	1.4 (1.2–1.6)	0.000
45–54	714	86.5	(83.1–89.2)	1.7 (1.5–1.9)	0.000	1.4 (1.2–1.7)	0.000
55–64	630	91.8	(88.7–94.1)	1.8 (1.6–2.0)	0.000	1.5 (1.3–1.8)	0.000
65+	895	93.1	(90.4–95.1)	1.8 (1.6–2.0)	0.000	1.6 (1.3–1.8)	0.000
CASMIN educational classification
Low	1117	90.0	(87.6–91.9)	1.3 (1.2–1.4)	0.000	1.2 (1.1–1.3)	0.000
Medium	1772	79.3	(76.4–82.0)	1.2 (1.1–1.2)	0.000	1.2 (1.1–1.3)	0.000
High	531	68.8	(63.7–73.5)	Ref	Ref	Ref	Ref
Income
Low	991	83.4	(80.1–86.2)	Ref	Ref	−	−
Medium	2031	82.0	(79.7–84.2)	1.0 (0.9–1.0)	0.481	−	−
High	419	76.9	(70.6–82.2)	0.9 (0.8-1.0)	0.066	−	−
Employment situation
Worker	827	91.2	(88.5–93.4)	1.1 (1.1–1.2)	0.000	1.1 (1.0–1.1)	0.004
Employee	1611	81.4	(78.5–83.9)	Ref	Ref	Ref	Ref
Civil servant	169	70.3	(60.5–78.5)	0.9 (0.8–1.0)	0.036	0.9 (0.8–1.1)	0.482
Free-lance/self-reliant	233	84.9	(77.9–90.0)	1.0 (1.0–1.1)	0.232	1.0 (1.0–1.1)	0.379
Family worker	64	87.5	(75.2–94.1)	1.1 (1.0–1.2)	0.201	1.0 (0.9–1.2)	0.551
other	124	51.8	(40.9–62.5)	0.6 (0.5–0.8)	0.000	0.8 (0.6–1.0)	0.086
Smoking, currently
Daily	643	84.2	(80.0–87.7)	1.0 (1.0–1.1)	0.266	1.1 (1.0–1.1)	0.035
Occasionally	179	75.1	(67.2–81.6)	0.9 (0.8-1.0)	0.090	1.1 (1.0–1.2)	0.023
No, not anymore	825	82.1	(77.7–85.7)	1.0 (1.0–1.1)	0.841	1.0 (0.9–1.1)	0.898
Never smoked	1776	81.6	(79.1–83.9)	Ref	Ref	Ref	Ref
Number of other children in household during childhood
0	369	76.6	(70.6–81.7)	Ref	Ref	−	−
1–2	1478	74.9	(71.9–77.7)	1.0 (0.9–1.1)	0.579	−	−
> 2	1594	90.6	(88.5–92.3)	1.2 (1.1–1.3)	0.000	−	−
Visit of nursery during childhood
No	801	87.9	(84.4–90.7)	1.2 (1.1–1.2)	0.000	−	−
Yes	1705	74.8	(71.9–77.5)	Ref	Ref	−	−
Degree of urbanization
Rural	607	83.8	(78.3–88.2)	Ref	Ref	−	−
Provincial	844	84.0	(80.1–87.3)	1.0 (0.9–1.1)	0.956	−	−
Urban	963	80.2	(76.3–83.6)	1.0 (0.8–1.0)	0.238	−	−
Metropolitan	1027	81.1	(77.7–84.0)	1.0 (0.9–1.0)	0.347	−	−
Region of residence
West Germany	2350	81.2	(78.9–83.2)	Ref	Ref	−	−
East Germany (including Berlin)	1091	85.0	(81.4–88.0)	1.0 (1.0-1.1)	0.052	−	−
German mother tongue
Yes	3170	81.0	(78.9–83.0)	Ref	Ref	Ref	Ref
No	242	88.4	(82.2–92.6)	1.1 (1.0–1.2)	0.000	1.1 (1.1–1.2)	0.000
Number of sexual partners in last 12 months
None	1051	85.4	(82.3–88.0)	1.0 (1.0–1.1)	0.043	−	−
1	2110	81.5	(78.9–83.9)	Ref	Ref	−	−
2–3	153	62.3	(53.1–70.7)	0.8 (0.7–0.9)	0.001	−	−
> 3	24	76.6	(49.1–91.8)	0.9 (0.7–1.2)	0.668	−	−
HSV2 serostatus
HSV2 seronegative	2262	81.6	(79.1–83.8)	Ref	Ref	−	−
HSV2 seropositive	323	88.9	(83.7–92.6)	1.1 (1.0–1.2)	0.004	−	−
Current use of birth control methods
Yes	978	72.0	(68.5–75.3)	Ref	Ref	−	−
No	1523	84.1	(81.6–86.3)	1.2 (1.1–1.2)	0.000	−	−
Which birth control method
-Contraceptive pill
Yes	470	67.2	(62.1–72.0)	Ref	Ref	−	−
No	478	77.1	(72.1–81.5)	1.1 (1.0–1.3)	0.005	−	−
-Condoms
Yes	287	71.8	(65.3–77.6)	Ref	Ref	−	−
No	661	72.3	(67.9–76.4)	1.0 (0.9–1.1)	0.891	−	−
Miscarriage
None	2008	77.1	(74.5–79.5)	Ref	Ref	−	−
1 or more	549	88.3	(83.8–91.6)	1.1 (1.1–1.2)	0.000	−	−
Abortion
None	2047	77.3	(74.8–79.7)	Ref	Ref	−	−
1 or more	471	88.5	(84.0–91.9)	1.1 (1.1–1.2)	0.000	−	−

In italics: PR is statistically significant (p < 0.05)
^aWe used survey weights to account for deviations of the survey sample from the sampling parameters (i.e. age, sex, region, urban/rural region, community size, citizenship and education)
^bIf a p-value was <0.2 in the univariable analysis, we included that variable in a stepwise forward variable selection to find a suitable multivariable model
^cAdjusted prevalence rates (PR) of variables which stayed in the final model (p-value ≤0.05) are reported

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