Abstract: Objective: To explore the factors affecting the patients with syphilis delayed in seeking health care and provide the strategy to control syphilis. Methods: The questionnaire including the characteristics and high risk behaviors was answered by the patients with syphilis in a sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic in Shanghai. Influencing factors of patients delayed in seeking health care were analyzed. Results: A total of 206 patients with syphilis were enrolled and the average age was 50.38±14.61 years. The reason of seeing a doctor was the symptoms of syphilis in 57 (27.7%) cases and was high-risk sexual behavior in 40 (19.4%) cases. 132 (64.1%) patients were diagnosed with latent syphilis. The core knowledge awareness rate of STD and AIDS in all patients was 9.8%. The average delay in the patients with syphilis was 40.4 days. The results of multivariate analysis showed that the average delay of the patients with high scores of core knowledge (22.79 days) was shorter than that of the patients with low scores of core knowledge (52.07 days), with a significant difference (P<0.05). The average delay in the primary and secondary syphilis patients (14.3 and 17.2 days) was shorter than in the latent syphilis patients (54.2 days) (Ps<0.05). Conclusion: The awareness of core knowledge and the stage of syphilis are the most common factors influencing patients delayed in seeking health care. 

Key words: syphilis, delayed in seeking health care, associated factors