Does Male Circumcision Protect against Sexually Transmitted Infections? Arguments and Meta-Analyses to the Contrary Fail to Withstand Scrutiny

Table 3

Comparison of OR in the 2013 and 2007 meta-analyses with the actual figures in four of the studies cited in each. See Section 2.2 for how use of crude ORs and Section 3.5 for how use of different control groups account for some of the discrepancies.

Condition	Study*	OR (95% CI) for association with lack of circumcision
		Actual^†	Van Howe 2007 [62]	Van Howe 2013^§ [10]
NSU	Cook	1.0 (0.8–1.3)	0.40 (0.26–0.62)	0.89 (0.73–1.10)
	Dave	0.85 (0.54–1.35)	0.88 (0.61–1.25)	0.88 (0.61–1.25)
	Laumann	0.72 (0.24–2.33)	0.77 (0.45–1.34)	0.77 (0.45–1.34)
	Parker	1.08 (0.81–1.44)	0.64 (0.50–0.82)	0.64 (0.50–0.82)
Chlamydia	Cook	1.0 (0.7–1.6)	0.90 (0.60–1.36)	0.95 (0.65–1.40)
	Dave	1.23 (0.62–2.44)	1.22 (0.66–2.26)	1.22 (0.66–2.26)
	Laumann	Notstated^¶	0.02 (0.00–0.28)	0.02 (0.00–0.28)
	Parker	1.12 (0.71–1.75)	1.02 (0.65–1.59)	1.02 (0.65–1.59)
Gonorrhea	Cook	1.6 (1.2–2.2)	2.74 (1.98–3.80)	2.26 (1.72–2.98)
	Dave	0.76 (0.39–1.49)	1.22 (0.66–2.26)	0.71 (0.40–1.27)
	Laumann
	1–4 partners	0.45 (0.05–4.0)	0.92 (0.39–2.21)	0.92 (0.39–2.21)
	5–20 partners	1.27 (0.55–2.63)	1.39 (0.95–2.04)	1.39 (0.95–2.04)
	21+ partners	0.31 (0.09–1.04)	0.78 (0.49–1.25)	0.78 (0.49–1.25)
	Parker	2.29 (1.48–3.56)	1.61 (1.06–2.44)	1.61 (1.06–2.44)

∗Shown is first author of each study: Cook et al. [63], Dave et al. [64], Laumann et al. [65], Parker et al. [66].
†Shown is adjusted OR provided in Cook et al. [63], Laumann et al. [65], and Parker et al. [66]. Since Dave et al. [64] only provided an OR we show the latter instead. Since Dave et al. [64] and Laumann et al. [65] expressed this as association with circumcision rather than lack of circumcision the value shown as been inverted for consistency across all studies.
§The 2013 meta-analysis expresses ORs as association with lack of circumcision.
¶Laumann et al. [65] do not provide an OR for Chlamydia. See text for the method we suggest the 2013 article used to derive the values presented.