Repeat HIV Testing Among Hispanic Men Who Have Sex With Men—A Sign Of Risk, Prevention, or Reassurance?

Abstract

This study examined factors associated with repeat (n > or = 3 lifetime) and regular (n > or = 2 times per year, for a minimum of 1 year) HIV testing among a community sample of 538 seronegative Hispanic men who have sex with men (MSM). Bilingual staff interviewed respondents anonymously at public venues in South Florida. We compared (a) repeat testers with nonrepeat testers and (b) regular testers with nonregular testers. Results of logistic regression analyses indicated that repeat testers were more likely to be older, more educated, have a history of sexually transmitted disease, and have more sex partners than nonrepeat testers. Regular testers were more likely to be younger, have lower HIV risk perceptions, and have intentionally taken their first HIV test than were nonregular testers. They were also more likely to engage in oral sex and to only engage in 100% protected insertive anal sex. These findings suggest the importance of studying both the frequency and regularity of HIV testing behaviors, and using them to design interventions to promote testing among Hispanic MSM who are most at risk.

Uso rotineiro do teste anti-HIV entre homens que fazem sexo com homens: do risco à prevenção

“…Some studies defined a "repeat tester" as someone who had tested more than once 22,23 , while others included in this category men who had had three or more tests in their lives 24,25,26,27,28,29 . Since the 2000s, the term "repeat testers" has been replaced by other notions of the frequency of repeat testing, more adequate for the new guidelines on frequent testing for MSM.…”

“…Some studies had already raised the issue of regular testing 24,25,28 , but in some cases this regularity was still defined according to the number of lifetime tests 24,28 . Beginning in the early 2000s, the parameter was the time elapsed since the last test, in keeping with the expectation that MSM should test periodically 30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37 .…”

“…Some authors began to establish approximations in this sense, constructing categories of "regular" or "repeat testers" as a function of the lifetime number of tests 28 . Other studies aimed to understand the differences between MSM who had never tested or had tested longer ago versus those who had tested recently 31,32,37 .…”

“…Along this line of inquiry, some authors continued to treat protected or unprotected anal sex independently of the partner, making it difficult to understand whether the risk mentioned in their studies was "actual risk" from the men's point of view, or risk reduction 28,36 . Although some of these studies acknowledged this limitation and even the multiplicity of different practices that were potentially being treated as the same phenomenon (e.g., Rendina et al 36 ), nearly all of them concluded that persons that tested repeatedly or recently were exposed to greater risk of HIV infection 28,36 .…”

“…Although some of these studies acknowledged this limitation and even the multiplicity of different practices that were potentially being treated as the same phenomenon (e.g., Rendina et al 36 ), nearly all of them concluded that persons that tested repeatedly or recently were exposed to greater risk of HIV infection 28,36 .…”