Summary: A study by FAIR Health reveals a 4.8 percent increase in STD diagnoses among commercially insured patients from 2020 to 2023, with the largest growth in diagnoses observed in patients aged 65 and older.

Takeaways:

  1. Significant Increase in Older Adults: The most notable rise in STD diagnoses was among older adults, particularly those aged 65 and older, highlighting a growing public health concern in an often overlooked demographic.
  2. Varied Increase by Disease Type: The increase in STD cases varied by type, with syphilis diagnoses rising the fastest at 29.4 percent, followed by gonorrhea at 16.8 percent, and HIV/AIDS at 14.1 percent.
  3. Gender Disparities in Diagnoses: There were significant gender disparities in the increase of specific STDs; for instance, gonorrhea cases surged by 59.2 percent among male patients, while declining by 19.3 percent among female patients.

The percentage of commercially insured patients with sexually transmitted disease (STD) diagnoses rose by 4.8 percent from 2020 to 2023, according to a new study from FAIR Health. Patients aged 65 and older were the age group with the largest increase (23.8 percent) in STD diagnoses in that period.

The next largest increase (16.2 percent) occurred among patients aged 55 to 64. The study results, which are being released in the form of an infographic, are based on an analysis of data from FAIR Health’s repository of over 47 billion commercial healthcare claim records—the largest such repository in the country.

The FAIR Health findings are consistent with data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing rising rates of STDs among people aged 55 and older from 2012 to 2022.

Among the other FAIR Health findings, all for the period 2020-2023:

  • The fastest-growing STD diagnoses by percent change in the percentage of patients with those diagnoses were syphilis (29.4 percent), gonorrhea (16.8 percent), and HIV and AIDS (14.1 percent).
  • Patients aged 65 and older had the largest increase (32.2 percent) in human papillomavirus (HPV) diagnoses. The next largest increase (21.9 percent) occurred among patients aged 55 to 64.
  • The percentage of male patients with gonorrhea grew by 59.2 percent while the percentage of female patients with the same diagnosis declined by 19.3 percent.
  • The percentage of male patients with syphilis grew by 22.9 percent while the percentage of female patients with the same diagnosis grew by 46.5 percent.

Further reading: Is Social Stigma Hobbling Syphilis Testing?

“It is central to FAIR Health’s mission to use our vast repository of claims data to provide data on public health concerns and support research by others. We hope this information brings greater clarity to the incidence of STDs,” says FAIR Health President Robin Gelburd.