(P45) EXAMINING NEISSERIA GONORRHEA CASES DIAGNOSED IN EMERGENCY ROOM/URGENT CARE FACILITIES ACROSS RACE/ETHNICITY GROUPS, UNITED STATES, 2018 - 2022

Background:
Understanding trends in the facility types where people are diagnosed with gonorrhea can help inform prevention opportunities. Increases in diagnoses in emergency care settings may indicate decreases in access to preventive health care. These access issues may be differential across racial/ethnic populations and exacerbate existing health disparities. We reviewed national gonorrhea data to investigate trends in diagnoses in emergency care facilities.

Methods:
We reviewed gonorrhea case notifications provided to CDC through the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System during 2018-2022. After restricting to cases with known diagnosing facility type, we investigated trends in the number and relative proportion of gonorrhea cases reported from emergency care facilities (emergency rooms/urgent care) stratified by the three race/ethnicity groups accounting for approximately 75% of all cases (non-Hispanic Black/African American, non-Hispanic White, and Hispanic persons).

Results:
During 2018-2022, 2,781,294 gonorrhea cases were reported with known diagnosing facility type (86% of all gonorrhea cases). Of those, 293,160 (10.5%) were diagnosed in emergency care facilities. Over time, the proportion diagnosed in emergency care facilities increased (7.7% to 11.5%), as did the number of cases reported from emergency care facilities (38,719 to 63,279 cases). Among non-Hispanic Black/African American persons, the proportion of diagnoses in emergency care facilities increased over time (7.5% to 13.3%) along with increases in case counts (14,634 to 27,860 cases). Although attenuated, trends were similar among non-Hispanic Whites persons (proportion increase: 9.3% to 11.6%; case count increase: 11,240 to 14,295) and Hispanic persons (proportion increase: 5.2% to 8.3%; case count increase: 3,198 to 6,278).

Conclusion:
Approximately 1 in 10 persons with gonorrhea are diagnosed in emergency care facilities. Recent increases in diagnoses in these facilities are substantial, particularly among non-Hispanic Black/African American persons. Monitoring trends in these facilities can provide insight into evolving patterns and disparities in STD care and inform interventions to improve accessibility and reduce health disparities.