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Internet-Facilitated, Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) Clinic-Based HIV Testing among Men Who Have Sex with Men in China

OBJECTIVE: To explore the feasibility of using Internet outreach to encourage men who have sex with men (MSM) to get tested for HIV at voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) clinics in Beijing and Urumqi, China. METHODS: From June to August 2007, two volunteers contacted MSM using instant messaging,...

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Autores principales: Zou, Huachun, Wu, Zunyou, Yu, Jianping, Li, Min, Ablimit, Muhtar, Li, Fan, Poundstone, Katharine
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2013
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3572127/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23418417
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0051919
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author Zou, Huachun
Wu, Zunyou
Yu, Jianping
Li, Min
Ablimit, Muhtar
Li, Fan
Poundstone, Katharine
author_facet Zou, Huachun
Wu, Zunyou
Yu, Jianping
Li, Min
Ablimit, Muhtar
Li, Fan
Poundstone, Katharine
author_sort Zou, Huachun
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVE: To explore the feasibility of using Internet outreach to encourage men who have sex with men (MSM) to get tested for HIV at voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) clinics in Beijing and Urumqi, China. METHODS: From June to August 2007, two volunteers contacted MSM using instant messaging, online chat rooms, mobile phone, and e-mail (active recruitment). Banners with study information were put at the front pages of three major Chinese gay websites (passive recruitment). Those contacted were offered a modest financial incentive to seek HIV testing at existing VCT clinics. Those who subsequently sought HIV testing services at VCT clinics and provided informed consent completed a questionnaire and a blood draw to test for HIV and syphilis. RESULTS: A total of 3,332 MSM were contacted and 429 attended VCT clinics. One out of every 4 men that were recruited through instant messaging actually went for HIV testing, while the recruitment yields for online gay chat rooms, mobile phone contact, and email were 1∶6, 1∶10, and 1∶140, respectively. The majority of participants (80%, 317/399) reported being motivated to seek HIV testing out of concern for their health, and only 3% (11/399) reported being motivated by the financial incentive. Active recruitment tend to recruit MSM who are younger (X(2) = 11.400, P = 0.001), never tested for HIV (X(2) = 4.281, P = 0.039), tested less often (X(2) = 5.638, P = 0.018). CONCLUSION: Internet outreach is a promising way to encourage MSM to seek HIV testing at existing VCT clinics. Active recruitment can target MSM who are younger, never tested for HIV and tested less often.
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spelling pubmed-35721272013-02-15 Internet-Facilitated, Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) Clinic-Based HIV Testing among Men Who Have Sex with Men in China Zou, Huachun Wu, Zunyou Yu, Jianping Li, Min Ablimit, Muhtar Li, Fan Poundstone, Katharine PLoS One Research Article OBJECTIVE: To explore the feasibility of using Internet outreach to encourage men who have sex with men (MSM) to get tested for HIV at voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) clinics in Beijing and Urumqi, China. METHODS: From June to August 2007, two volunteers contacted MSM using instant messaging, online chat rooms, mobile phone, and e-mail (active recruitment). Banners with study information were put at the front pages of three major Chinese gay websites (passive recruitment). Those contacted were offered a modest financial incentive to seek HIV testing at existing VCT clinics. Those who subsequently sought HIV testing services at VCT clinics and provided informed consent completed a questionnaire and a blood draw to test for HIV and syphilis. RESULTS: A total of 3,332 MSM were contacted and 429 attended VCT clinics. One out of every 4 men that were recruited through instant messaging actually went for HIV testing, while the recruitment yields for online gay chat rooms, mobile phone contact, and email were 1∶6, 1∶10, and 1∶140, respectively. The majority of participants (80%, 317/399) reported being motivated to seek HIV testing out of concern for their health, and only 3% (11/399) reported being motivated by the financial incentive. Active recruitment tend to recruit MSM who are younger (X(2) = 11.400, P = 0.001), never tested for HIV (X(2) = 4.281, P = 0.039), tested less often (X(2) = 5.638, P = 0.018). CONCLUSION: Internet outreach is a promising way to encourage MSM to seek HIV testing at existing VCT clinics. Active recruitment can target MSM who are younger, never tested for HIV and tested less often. Public Library of Science 2013-02-13 /pmc/articles/PMC3572127/ /pubmed/23418417 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0051919 Text en © 2013 Zou et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Zou, Huachun
Wu, Zunyou
Yu, Jianping
Li, Min
Ablimit, Muhtar
Li, Fan
Poundstone, Katharine
Internet-Facilitated, Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) Clinic-Based HIV Testing among Men Who Have Sex with Men in China
title Internet-Facilitated, Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) Clinic-Based HIV Testing among Men Who Have Sex with Men in China
title_full Internet-Facilitated, Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) Clinic-Based HIV Testing among Men Who Have Sex with Men in China
title_fullStr Internet-Facilitated, Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) Clinic-Based HIV Testing among Men Who Have Sex with Men in China
title_full_unstemmed Internet-Facilitated, Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) Clinic-Based HIV Testing among Men Who Have Sex with Men in China
title_short Internet-Facilitated, Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) Clinic-Based HIV Testing among Men Who Have Sex with Men in China
title_sort internet-facilitated, voluntary counseling and testing (vct) clinic-based hiv testing among men who have sex with men in china
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3572127/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23418417
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0051919
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