Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Emory University School of Public Health, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Emory University School of Public Health, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Sex Transm Infect. 2020 Sep;96(6):429-431. doi: 10.1136/sextrans-2019-054026. Epub 2019 Aug 23.
Emerging literature shows that racialised police brutality, a form of structural racism, significantly affects health and well-being of racial/ethnic minorities in the USA. While public health research suggests that structural racism is a distal determinant of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among Black people, no studies have empirically linked police violence to STIs. To address this gap, our study measures associations between police killings and rates of STIs among Black residents of US metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs).
This cross-sectional ecological analysis assessed associations between the number of Black people killed by police in 2015 and rates of primary and secondary syphilis, gonorrhoea and chlamydia per 100 000 Black residents of all ages in 2016 in 75 large MSAs. Multivariable models controlled for MSA-level demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, police expenditures, violent crime, arrest and incarceration rates, insurance rates and healthcare funding.
In 2015, the median number of Black people killed by police per MSA was 1.0. In multivariable models, police killings were positively and significantly associated with syphilis and gonorrhoea rates among Black residents. Each additional police killing in 2015 was associated with syphilis rates that were 7.5% higher and gonorrhoea rates that were 4.0% higher in 2016.
Police killings of Black people may increase MSA-level risk of STI infections among Black residents. If future longitudinal analyses support these findings, efforts to reduce STIs among Black people should include reducing police brutality and addressing mechanisms linking this violence to STIs.
新兴文献表明，种族主义的警察暴力行为是一种结构性种族主义，它极大地影响了美国少数族裔的健康和福祉。虽然公共卫生研究表明结构性种族主义是黑人中性传播感染（STIs）的一个远因，但没有研究实证性地将警察暴力与 STIs 联系起来。为了解决这一差距，我们的研究衡量了警察杀人事件与美国大都市统计区（MSAs）黑人居民的 STI 发病率之间的关联。
本横断面生态分析评估了 2015 年被警察杀害的黑人人数与 2016 年所有年龄段黑人居民每 10 万人中原发性和继发性梅毒、淋病和衣原体发病率之间的关联，研究对象为 75 个大型 MSAs。多变量模型控制了 MSA 层面的人口统计学和社会经济特征、警察支出、暴力犯罪、逮捕和监禁率、保险率和医疗保健资金。
2015 年，每个 MSA 被警察杀害的黑人中位数为 1.0。在多变量模型中，警察杀人与黑人居民的梅毒和淋病发病率呈正相关且具有统计学意义。与 2015 年相比，2015 年每增加一起警察杀人事件，与梅毒发病率相关的风险比增加了 7.5%，与淋病发病率相关的风险比增加了 4.0%。
警察杀害黑人可能会增加黑人居民所在 MSA 层面的 STI 感染风险。如果未来的纵向分析支持这些发现，那么减少黑人 STI 发病率的努力应包括减少警察暴力行为，并解决将这种暴力与 STIs 联系起来的机制。
