Trial reportSexual health2020
Low male partner attendance after syphilis screening in pregnant women leads to worse birth outcomes: the Syphilis Treatment of Partners (STOP) randomised control trial.
Trial report in Sexual health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Effectiveness of Contact Tracing to Reduce Transmission of Infectious Diseases During Epidemic or Pandemic Response: Rapid Systematic Review.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2026Pooled it
- Evaluating phone call follow-ups in Sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Effectiveness of a behavioural intervention delivered by text messages (safetxt) on sexually transmitted reinfections in people aged 16-24 years: randomised controlled trial.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2022Trial
- Evaluation of Partner Notification Strategies to Improve Syphilis Management in Pregnancy in Blantyre, Malawi: A Mixed-Methods Study.Sexually transmitted diseases · 2026Article
- Multivariate spatiotemporal risk of syphilis cases in São Paulo, Brazil (2018-2022).BMC primary care · 2026Article
- The neglected role of partner treatment in congenital syphilis control in Brazil: nationwide evidence from 2007 to 2023.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2026Article
- Low syphilis treatment rates and associated birth outcomes in pregnant women with and without HIV in Zambia: A cohort study.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2026Article
- "As long as you are married you cannot protect yourself against syphilis": qualitative exploration of syphilis risk perception and antenatal care seeking among pregnant women in Uganda.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Characteristics and effectiveness of maternal health interventions to prevent mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of syphilis in a global setting: a scoping review using Intervention Mapping as a framework.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Article
- Syphilis clustering among young pregnant women (18-35 years) in Kampala and Wakiso districts, Uganda.Frontiers in reproductive health · 2026Article
- Population Prevalence and Correlates of Syphilis in Rural, Southwestern Uganda.Open forum infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Opportunities to Optimize Outcomes of Diagnosis and Treatment of HIV and Syphilis in Pregnancy: the Quest to Eliminate Maternal and Vertical Transmission.Current HIV/AIDS reports · 2025Review
- Sexually transmitted infections and migration in Uganda: a population-based study.Sexually transmitted infections · 2025Article
- Congenital Syphilis: A Re-Emerging but Preventable Infection.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Syphilis Complicating Pregnancy and Congenital Syphilis.The New England journal of medicine · 2024Review
- Factors influencing the positivity of diagnostic tests for congenital syphilis.Revista da Associacao Medica Brasileira (1992) · 2024Article
- Mortality in children under 5 years of age with congenital syphilis in Brazil: A nationwide cohort study.PLoS medicine · 2023Observational
- Prevalence and Factors Associated with Syphilis among Mothers with Missed Opportunities for Antenatal Syphilis Testing in Rural Western Uganda: A Cross-Sectional Study.International journal of reproductive medicine · 2023Article
- Gender transformative approaches in mHealth for maternal healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review.Frontiers in digital health · 2023Review
- Ineffective penicillin treatment and absence of partner treatment may drive the congenital syphilis epidemic in Brazil.AJOG global reports · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Background Maternal syphilis causes poor birth outcomes, including congenital syphilis. Testing and treatment of partners prevents reinfection, but strategies to improve partner attendance are failing. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of three partner notification strategies.
methodsPregnant women with a positive point-of-care treponemal test at three antenatal clinics (ANCs) in Kampala, Uganda, were randomised 1:1:1 to receive either notification slips (NS; standard of care), NS and a text messages (SMS) or NS and telephone calls. The primary outcome was the proportion of partners who attended the ANC and were treated for syphilis.
resultsBetween 2015 and 2016, 17130 pregnant women were screened; 601 (3.5%) had a positive treponemal result, and 442 were enrolled in the study. Only 81 of 442 partners (18.3%; 23/152 (15.1%), 31/144 (21.5%) and 27/146 (18.5%) in the NS only, NS + SMS and NS + telephone call groups respectively) attended an ANC for follow-up; there were no significant differences between the groups. Twelve per cent of women attended the ANC with their male partner, and this proportion increased over time. Partner non-treatment was independently associated with adverse birth outcomes (odds ratio 2.75; 95% confidence interval 2.36-3.21; P < 0.001).
conclusionsOnly 18.3% of partners of pregnant women who tested positive for syphilis received treatment. Female partners of non-attendant men had worse birth outcomes. Encouraging men to accompany women to the ANC and testing both may address the urgent need to treat partners of pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa to reduce poor fetal outcomes.
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