Determinants of Never Having Tested for HIV among MSM in the Netherlands
OBJECTIVES:
Men
who have sex with men (MSM) who are unaware of their HIV infection are more
likely to infect others, and unable to receive treatment. Therefore, we aimed
to identify the proportion and characteristics of Dutch MSM who never tested
for HIV.
METHODS:
In 2010,
the European MSM Internet Survey (EMIS) recruited 174 209 men from 38 countries
through an anonymous online questionnaire in 25 languages. We analysed data
from participants living in the Netherlands (N=3787). The outcome we
investigated was having never (lifetime) been tested for HIV.
RESULTS:
A total
of 770 MSM (20.4%) had never been tested for HIV. In multivariate regression
analyses, not being from Amsterdam,
with low education and low knowledge on HIV-testing were significantly associated with never having
tested. Lower sexual risk (including having fewer sexual partners and no anal intercourse), and less
social engagement (including being less out) were
also associated with having never been tested. Additionally, 36.1% of MSM who
never tested for HIV reported high-risk sexual behaviour that may have put them
at HIV risk.
CONCLUSIONS:
MSM
make their own risk assessments that inform their choices about HIV-testing.
Nevertheless, MSM who were never tested may have been at risk for HIV, and
remain important to target for HIV interventions.
- 1Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
- 2Sigma Research, Department of Social & Environmental Health Research, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK.
- BMJ Open. 2016 Jan 12;6(1):e009480. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-009480.
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