The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis

The year 1963 marks the 30th year of the long-term evaluation of the effect of untreated syphilis in the male Negro conducted by the Venereal Disease Branch, Communicable Disease Center, United States Public Health Service. This paper summarizes the information obtained in this study—well known as the "Tuskegee Study"—from earlier publications,1-11reviews the status of the original study group, and reports the clinical and laboratory findings on those remaining participants who were examined in the 1963 evaluation. In the late 1920's and early 1930's, surveys7,12in rural areas of the South revealed a high incidence of syphilis among the Negro population, and it was determined that many of those infected remained untreated. Because of the lack of knowledge of the pathogenesis of syphilis, a long-term study of untreated syphilis was desirable in establishing a more knowledgeable syphilis control program. A prospective study was begun late in 1932 in