Use of period- or fertility-tracking technologies pre- and post-Dobbs.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate whether use of period- or fertility-tracking technologies decreased from pre- to post-Dobbs, and to identify user characteristics and changes in reasons for use.

Study Design: We used data from the Surveys of Women, population-based surveys on reproductive health among self-identified women aged 18-44 years, conducted in five states. We compared prevalence of use of period- or fertility-tracking technologies and reasons for use pre-Dobbs (2018-2019 in Iowa and Ohio; 2019-2020 in Arizona, New Jersey, and Wisconsin) and post-Dobbs (2022-2023 in all five states), overall and stratified by state.

Understanding abortion legality and trimester of abortion care in Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky, three abortion-restrictive states.

Introduction: In the era of Dobbs, legality of abortion care in the United States depends upon state law. Even before Dobbs, while abortion remained legal mounting restrictions and debate surrounding legal abortion could have led to confusion about abortion legality and discouraged patients from accessing legal abortion. We hypothesized an association between believing abortion is illegal or uncertainty about legality with later timing of abortion care.

Census Tract-Level Social Vulnerability and Gonorrhea Rates in Central Ohio: Results From the STD Surveillance Network, 2020-2021.

Background: Gonorrhea remains a significant burden in central Ohio, particularly in socially disadvantaged communities. This study evaluates gonorrhea case rates and changes from 2020 to 2021, focusing on geographic patterns associated with social vulnerability.

Methods: We analyzed gonorrhea case data from the Columbus STD Surveillance Network for 2020 and 2021.

Feasibility and Acceptability of a Prospective Syphilis Sexual Network Study for Sexual Minority Men.

Background: In preparation for a prospective syphilis network study of sexual minority men, we conducted a mixed-methods formative study with the following objectives: ( a ) assess acceptability of respondent-driven sampling, ( b ) assess acceptability of study procedures, ( c ) social network seed selection, and ( d ) pilot an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study to assess social networking, sexual, and substance use behaviors.

Methods: We conducted in-depth interviews with 8 providers serving sexual minority men and 5 focus group discussions with 34 sexual minority men, prioritizing 4 target populations: (1) young Black sexual minority men, (2) on preexposure prophylaxis, (3) living with HIV, and (4) not engaged in care. The 4-week EMA pilot was conducted with 40 sexual minority men.

Prior knowledge and experience with self-managed abortion among people seeking abortion care in US Midwestern states.

Objectives: This study seeks to understand what methods people use and/or have heard of others using for self-managed abortion (SMA) prior to coming to a health facility for abortion care.

Study Design: We collected survey data on sociodemographics, gestational stage, and SMA awareness and methods from patients seeking care in 17 abortion facilities in Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Illinois from April 2020 to April 2022. We used descriptive statistics to examine the proportion of participants who had attempted SMA and, separately, who had heard of people attempting SMA.

Positive and Negative Social Consequences of Participating in a Sexual-Network Study.

Assessment of risks and benefits of study participation is standard practice preceding the initiation of human subjects research. Although tracking adverse events during research participation is routine, collecting information from participants about what they perceive as benefits is less common. We longitudinally tracked social risks and benefits of participation among a cohort of 241 men who have sex with men participating in a sexual health study to improve participants' experiences and enhance understanding of participant motivations to enroll and attend follow-up.

Antibiotic Susceptibility Profile for the US Urethritis Clade.

The US urethritis clade (US_NmUC) harbors gonococcal deoxyribonucleic acid alleles and causes gonorrhea-like urogenital tract disease. A large convenience sample of US_NmUC isolates ( = 122) collected between January 2015 and December 2019 in Columbus, Ohio demonstrated uniform susceptibility to antibiotics recommended for gonorrhea treatment and meningococcal chemoprophylaxis.

Changes in Sexual Behavior Over the COVID-19 Pandemic Among a Community-Based Cohort of Men Who Have Sex With Men in Columbus, Ohio.

Background: The purpose was to assess COVID-19 beliefs and attitudes and examine COVID-19-related changes in sexual behavior of men who have sex with men during 3 time periods: April-July 2020 (T1), August-December 2020 (T2), January-May 2021 (T3).

Methods: Data were analyzed from 157 men who have sex with men in Ohio recruited to participate in a longitudinal multisite network study of syphilis epidemiology in 3 US cities: Columbus, Ohio; Baltimore, Maryland; and Chicago, Illinois. In April 2020, a COVID-19 module was appended to existing baseline and follow-up surveys to assess beliefs, attitudes, and changes in sexual behavior.

Factors associated with never-use of long-acting reversible contraception among adult reproductive-aged women in Ohio.

Background: The number of women using long-acting reversible contraception (LARC)-intrauterine devices (IUDs) and implants-is increasing and 14% of contraceptive users in the United States adopt LARC. We examined correlates of LARC never-use in a population-based survey of reproductive-aged women in Ohio.

Methods: We analyzed data from the 2018-19 Ohio Survey of Women.

Housing Stability and Access to General Healthcare and Reproductive Healthcare Among Women in Ohio.

Background: The relationship between housing instability and reproductive healthcare is understudied. We examined the association between housing insecurity and access and utilization of general healthcare, contraceptive healthcare, and abortion care.

Methods: Using data from a population-representative survey of adult reproductive-age Ohio women (N = 2,529), we assessed housing insecurity (not paying rent/mortgage on time in the past year).

Assessing psychosocial costs: Ohio patients' experiences seeking abortion care.

Objectives: Existing research has not thoroughly characterized the psychosocial costs associated with seeking abortion care in restrictive states. Our study seeks to fill this gap by analyzing the accounts of Ohio abortion patients from 2018 to 2019.

Study Design: Using inductive and deductive approaches, we analyzed semi-structured in-depth qualitative interviews with 41 Ohio residents who obtained abortion care from one of three clinics in Ohio or Pennsylvania.

Ohio survey data assessing perceptions of abortion safety.

Objective: Despite overwhelming data supporting the safety of abortion care in the U.S., public perceptions of abortion safety vary widely.

Prevalence of current and past COVID-19 in Ohio adults.

Purpose To estimate the prevalence of current and past COVID-19 in Ohio adults. Methods We used stratified, probability-proportionate-to-size cluster sampling. During July 2020, we enrolled 727 randomly-sampled adult English- and Spanish-speaking participants through a household survey.

Evaluation of Urethrotropic-Clade Meningococcal Infection by Urine Metagenomic Shotgun Sequencing.

Urethral infections caused by an emerging nongroupable (NG) urethrotropic clade of Neisseria meningitidis were first reported in the United States in 2015 (the "U.S. NmNG urethritis clade").

Infection With the US Neisseria meningitidis Urethritis Clade Does Not Lower Future Risk of Urethral Gonorrhea.

Background: Cross-protective immunity between Neisseria meningitidis (Nm) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (Ng) may inform gonococcal vaccine development. Meningococcal serogroup B (MenB) outer membrane vesicle (OMV) vaccines confer modest protection against gonorrhea. However, whether urethral Nm infection protects against gonorrhea is unknown.

Who attends a crisis pregnancy center in Ohio?

Objectives: We sought to quantify the prevalence of ever attendance at a crisis pregnancy center (CPC) among adult, reproductive-age women in Ohio and identify demographic factors associated with ever attendance.

Study Design: We analyzed data from the Ohio Survey of Women, a survey of adult, reproductive-age women (N = 2529) conducted in 2018 to 2019. We calculated unadjusted and adjusted prevalence ratios (PRs) to evaluate the possible associations between demographic factors and ever CPC attendance.

Role of temporal discounting in a conditional cash transfer (CCT) intervention to improve engagement in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) cascade.

Background: Temporal discounting, the tendency of individuals to discount future costs and benefits relative to the present, is often associated with greater engagement in risky behaviors. Incentives such as conditional cash transfers (CCTs) have the potential to counter the effects of high discount rates on health behaviors.

Methods: With data from a randomized trial of a CCT intervention among 434 HIV-positive pregnant women in the Democratic Republic of Congo, we used binomial models to assess interactions between discount rates (measured using a delay-discounting task) and the intervention.

Use of nonpreferred contraceptive methods among women in Ohio.

Objectives: We describe the prevalence and correlates of nonuse of preferred contraceptive method among women 18-44 years of age in Ohio using contraception.

Study Design: The population-representative Ohio Survey of Women had 2529 participants in 2018-2019, with a response rate of 33.5%.

Passage of abortion ban and women's accurate understanding of abortion legality.

Background: Legislative and judicial procedures related to banning abortion after 6 weeks of gestation in Ohio occurred from November 2018 to July 2019. These activities could have increased the belief that abortion has become illegal even though the 6-week abortion ban has never been in effect to date.

Objective: We sought to determine the prevalence and correlates of holding the belief that abortion is illegal in Ohio and to evaluate whether this belief increased over the time in which the 6-week abortion ban was introduced, passed twice, and then blocked in Ohio.