HIV Testing among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Tijuana, Mexico
OBJECTIVES:
HIV
testing is critical to the delivery of comprehensive HIV prevention and care
services, yet coverage of sexual minorities by HIV testing programmes remains
insufficient in many low- and middle-income countries, including Mexico. The
objective of this study was to identify the prevalence and correlates of HIV
testing among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Tijuana, Mexico.
METHODS:
We
conducted a cross-sectional study (2012-2013) among 189 MSM recruited via
respondent-driven sampling (RDS). RDS-weighted logistic regression was used to
identify correlates of prior HIV testing.
RESULTS:
RDS-adjusted
prevalence of prior and recent (≤12 months) HIV testing was 63.5% and 36.8%, respectively. Prior HIV testing
was positively associated with older age, being born in Tijuana, higher levels
of education, identifying as homosexual or gay, being more 'out' about having sex with men, and a history of sexual abuse. Prior HIV testing was negatively associated with reporting
more condomless anal intercourse acts (past 2 months) and greater internalised homophobia.
CONCLUSIONS:
Our
findings indicate an urgent need for expanded HIV testing services for MSM in
Tijuana. Innovative, non-stigmatising, confidential HIV testing interventions
targeted at young, less educated, migrant and non-gay identifying MSM may
facilitate HIV testing and timely linkage to HIV care and treatment within this
population.
- 1Division of Global Public Health, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA.
- 2Agencia Familiar Binacional, AC, Tijuana, Mexico.
- 3Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, USA.
- BMJ Open. 2016 Feb 4;6(2):e010388. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-010388.
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