Independent clinic-based evaluation of dual POCTs for screening for HIV and syphilis in men who have sex with men in Italy, Malta, Peru, and the United Kingdom

Table 2 Clinical characteristics of participants

Variable	Category	Pooled		Italy		Malta		Peru		UK
Variable	Category	N	%	N	%	N	%	N	%	N	%
*SYPHILIS*
Previously tested for syphilis	No	376	14.60	118	23.98	61	11.84	179	17.34	18	3.36
	Yes	2170	84.27	369	75.00	450	87.38	841	81.49	510	95.15
	N/A	9	0.35	0	0	0	0	7	0.68	2	0.37
	Don't know	17	0.66	5	1.02	4	0.78	5	0.48	3	0.56
	Don’t want to answer	3	0.12	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0.56
	Missing	2	0.08	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0.37
Previously diagnosed for syphilis	No	1406	65.18	211	57.18	339	75.50	495	59.07	361	72.06
	Yes	751	34.82	158	42.82	110	24.50	343	40.93	140	27.94
	Missing	420	16.30	123	0.25	66	12.82	194	18.80	37	6.88
*HIV*
Previously tested for HIV	No	142	5.51	32	6.50	34	6.60	68	6.59	8	1.49
	Yes	2426	94.18	459	93.29	481	93.40	953	93.31	523	97.39
	N/A	2	0.08	0	0	0	0	1	0.10	1	0.19
	Don’t know	2	0.12	1	0.20	0	0	0	0	2	0.37
	Don’t want to answer	3	0.12	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0.56
	Missing	1	0.04	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0.19
Last HIV test	< 1 year	1564	64.57	285	62.09	326	67.92	617	64.07	336	64.62
	≥ 1 year	858	35.43	174	37.91	154	32.08	346	35.93	184	35.38
	Missing	155	6.01	33	6.71	35	6.80	69	6.69	18	3.35
Result of last HIV test	Negative	1900	78.38	411	89.54	423	88.13	689	71.62	377	72.08
	Positive	518	21.37	47	10.24	57	11.88	269	27.96	145	27.72
	Indeterminate	3	0.12	0	0	0	0	3	0.31	0	0
	Don’t know	2	0.08	1	0.22	0	0	0	0	1	0.19
	Don’t want to answer	1	0.04	0	0	0	0	1	0.10	0	0
	Missing	153	5.94	33	6.71	35	6.80	70	6.78	15	2.79

ISSN: 1471-2334