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Young, Online and in the Dark: Scaling Up HIV Testing among MSM in ASEAN

BACKGROUND: Poor HIV testing uptake by MSM may be attributable to unique challenges that are localized in Southeast Asia. OBJECTIVE: To characterize MSM who never tested for HIV, to identify correlates of never testing, and to elucidate the perceived barriers to HIV testing. METHODS: The present stu...

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Autores principales: Guadamuz, Thomas E., Cheung, Doug H., Wei, Chongyi, Koe, Stuart, Lim, Sin How
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4431680/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25973907
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0126658
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author Guadamuz, Thomas E.
Cheung, Doug H.
Wei, Chongyi
Koe, Stuart
Lim, Sin How
author_facet Guadamuz, Thomas E.
Cheung, Doug H.
Wei, Chongyi
Koe, Stuart
Lim, Sin How
author_sort Guadamuz, Thomas E.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Poor HIV testing uptake by MSM may be attributable to unique challenges that are localized in Southeast Asia. OBJECTIVE: To characterize MSM who never tested for HIV, to identify correlates of never testing, and to elucidate the perceived barriers to HIV testing. METHODS: The present study used data from the Asian Internet MSM Sex Survey (AIMSS) and restricted the analysis to 4,310 MSM from the ten member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). RESULTS: Among MSM participants from ASEAN in our sample, 1290 (29.9%) reported having never been tested for HIV, 471 (10.9%) tested for HIV more than 2 years ago, and 2186 (50.7%) reported their last test date was between 6 months and two years ago, with only 363 (8.4%) of these men having been tested in the past 6 months. In multivariable logistic regression, younger MSM (age 15–22 years old [AOR: 4.60, 95% CI: 3.04–6.96]), MSM with lower education (secondary school or lower [AOR: 1.37, 95% CI: 1.03–1.83]), MSM who identify as bisexual or heterosexual (compared to gay-identified) (AOR: 1.94, 95% CI: 1.60–2.35), and MSM who had never used a condom with male partners (AOR: 1.61, 95% CI: 1.32–1.97) had higher odds of never been HIV tested. Main reason for not being tested was a low risk perception of HIV exposure (n = 390, 30.2%). CONCLUSION: Current HIV prevention response must not leave MSM “in the dark,” but instead meet them where they are by utilizing the Internet creatively through social media and smart phones. As ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is quickly becoming a reality, so must there be an equally fast and united response to slowing down the HIV epidemics among MSM in ASEAN.
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spelling pubmed-44316802015-05-27 Young, Online and in the Dark: Scaling Up HIV Testing among MSM in ASEAN Guadamuz, Thomas E. Cheung, Doug H. Wei, Chongyi Koe, Stuart Lim, Sin How PLoS One Research Article BACKGROUND: Poor HIV testing uptake by MSM may be attributable to unique challenges that are localized in Southeast Asia. OBJECTIVE: To characterize MSM who never tested for HIV, to identify correlates of never testing, and to elucidate the perceived barriers to HIV testing. METHODS: The present study used data from the Asian Internet MSM Sex Survey (AIMSS) and restricted the analysis to 4,310 MSM from the ten member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). RESULTS: Among MSM participants from ASEAN in our sample, 1290 (29.9%) reported having never been tested for HIV, 471 (10.9%) tested for HIV more than 2 years ago, and 2186 (50.7%) reported their last test date was between 6 months and two years ago, with only 363 (8.4%) of these men having been tested in the past 6 months. In multivariable logistic regression, younger MSM (age 15–22 years old [AOR: 4.60, 95% CI: 3.04–6.96]), MSM with lower education (secondary school or lower [AOR: 1.37, 95% CI: 1.03–1.83]), MSM who identify as bisexual or heterosexual (compared to gay-identified) (AOR: 1.94, 95% CI: 1.60–2.35), and MSM who had never used a condom with male partners (AOR: 1.61, 95% CI: 1.32–1.97) had higher odds of never been HIV tested. Main reason for not being tested was a low risk perception of HIV exposure (n = 390, 30.2%). CONCLUSION: Current HIV prevention response must not leave MSM “in the dark,” but instead meet them where they are by utilizing the Internet creatively through social media and smart phones. As ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is quickly becoming a reality, so must there be an equally fast and united response to slowing down the HIV epidemics among MSM in ASEAN. Public Library of Science 2015-05-14 /pmc/articles/PMC4431680/ /pubmed/25973907 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0126658 Text en © 2015 Guadamuz 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
Guadamuz, Thomas E.
Cheung, Doug H.
Wei, Chongyi
Koe, Stuart
Lim, Sin How
Young, Online and in the Dark: Scaling Up HIV Testing among MSM in ASEAN
title Young, Online and in the Dark: Scaling Up HIV Testing among MSM in ASEAN
title_full Young, Online and in the Dark: Scaling Up HIV Testing among MSM in ASEAN
title_fullStr Young, Online and in the Dark: Scaling Up HIV Testing among MSM in ASEAN
title_full_unstemmed Young, Online and in the Dark: Scaling Up HIV Testing among MSM in ASEAN
title_short Young, Online and in the Dark: Scaling Up HIV Testing among MSM in ASEAN
title_sort young, online and in the dark: scaling up hiv testing among msm in asean
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4431680/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25973907
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0126658
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