Suboptimal HIV Testing Uptake among Men Who Engage in Commercial Sex Work with Men in Asia
PURPOSE:
Men who
have sex with men and are sex workers (MSMSW) are disproportionately affected
by the growing and emerging HIV epidemic. As sex work and same-sex behavior are
heavily stigmatized and often illegal in most Asian countries, HIV research
focusing on MSMSW has been limited. The goal of this analysis is to examine HIV
testing practices and identify correlates of HIV testing among MSMSW in Asia.
METHODS:
The Asia
Internet MSM Sex Survey, an online cross-sectional survey of 10,861 men who
have sex with men (MSM), was conducted in 2010. Data on sociodemographic
characteristics, HIV testing behaviors, and sexual behaviors were collected.
Five hundred seventy-four HIV-negative/unknown respondents reported receiving
payment for sex with men at least once in the past 6 months and were included
for analysis. Multivariable logistic regression was conducted to identify
independent correlates of HIV testing in the past year.
RESULTS:
About
half (48.6%) of the participants have been tested for HIV at least once within the
past year, and 30.5% have never been tested. We also found that MSMSW
participants who engaged in risky behaviors were less likely to be tested.
CONCLUSION:
While
one might expect a high HIV testing rate among MSMSW due to the risks
associated with engaging in sex work, we found that HIV testing uptake is
suboptimal among MSMSW in Asia. These results suggest that targeted HIV
prevention and testing promotion among MSMSW are needed.
- 1 Center for Public Health Research , San Francisco Department of Public Health, San Francisco, California.
- 2 Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
- 3 Center of Excellence for Research in AIDS, University of Malaya , Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia .
- 4 Department of Society and Health, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Mahidol University , Nakorn Pathom, Thailand .
- 5 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California , San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
- LGBT Health. 2016 Mar 16.
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