Syphilis on the Rise: Arizona's Race to Prevention

Congenital syphilis (CS) is on the rise nationally; in 2020, Arizona became ranked number one in the nation for CS rates and continued to have the highest rates for three years (Arizona Department of Health Services [AzDHS], 2023). Pregnant women are tested for syphilis twice during pregnancy and once at the time of delivery, yet infants continue to be born with CS at alarming rates (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2023). CS leads to many complications, including neonatal and fetal demise. A literature review revealed it is common for a pregnant person to have an episodic hospital visit to an obstetrical (OB) triage unit during their pregnancy. The goal of this project is to screen non-laboring OB triage patients through a new protocol that is aimed at testing for syphilis in those who report limited to no prenatal care. Participation is offered to OB providers and is voluntary. The project includes a pre-education questionnaire, a provider education session followed by a post-education questionnaire, along with a three-month follow-up questionnaire. The questionnaires examined the providers’ knowledge, attitude, and behavior towards syphilis and the new protocol. Data analysis was completed by the use of descriptive statistics using these data points. Additionally, qualitative answers were studied for recurrent themes. The project results support the use of provider education sessions for the introduction of the new protocol and should be considered as a strategy to continue combating the high CS rates locally and nationally.