Prevalence and factors associated with non-adherence to therapy among partners of pregnant women with syphilis in a city of northeastern Brazil

BACKGROUND One of the main difficulties faced in the prevention of the vertical transmission of syphilis is the inadequate treatment of pregnant women and their partners.The disease causes serious repercussions in infected newborns.AIM To evaluate the prevalence and factors associated with the therapeutic adhesion among partners of pregnant women with syphilis in a county in Northeastern Brazil.METHODS This is a descriptive,analytic,quantitative,cross-sectional study that was carried out through interviews with 46 pregnant women diagnosed with syphilis between 2017 and 2018 as well as with their partners.The interviews aimed at collecting data regarding sociodemographic characteristics,obstetric variables and information about syphilis,and partners’related variables.RESULTS Our results showed that 73.91%of the partners did not undergo appropriate treatments,and obtaining negative results in syphilis tests was the main reason for the absence of therapies.The following factors were significantly associated with the lack of treatment among partners:Being a partner that is not the current mate of the pregnant woman,having a level of schooling inferior to 8 years[oddsratio(OR)=10.28],and the pregnant woman undergoing up to two syphilis tests during the prenatal care(OR=8.6).The study found a higher odds of absent treatment among partners if the pregnant woman is not white(OR=13.88)or if the partner has less than 8 years of schooling(OR=21.00)or has a monthly income of less than half the minimum wage(OR=13.93).CONCLUSION The findings of this study show a high prevalence of partners that are not adequately treated for syphilis,a phenomenon that is strongly associated with socioeconomic factors.