Online Hookup Sites for Meeting Sexual Partners among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Rhode Island, 2013: A Call for Public Health Action

Frequent use of websites and mobile telephone applications (apps) by men who have sex with men (MSM) to meet sexual partners, commonly referred to as "hookup" sites, make them ideal platforms for HIV prevention messaging. This Rhode Island case study demonstrated widespread use of hookup sites among MSM recently diagnosed with HIV. 

We present the advertising prices and corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs of the top five sites used by newly diagnosed HIV-positive MSM to meet sexual partners: Grindr, Adam4Adam, Manhunt, Scruff, and Craigslist. Craigslist offered universal free advertising. Scruff offered free online advertising to selected nonprofit organizations. Grindr and Manhunt offered reduced, but widely varying, pricing for nonprofit advertisers. More than half (60%, 26/43) of newly diagnosed MSM reported meeting sexual partners online in the 12 months prior to their diagnosis. 

Opportunities for public health agencies to promote HIV-related health messaging on these sites were limited. Partnering with hookup sites to reach high-risk MSM for HIV prevention and treatment messaging is an important public health opportunity for reducing disease transmission risks in Rhode Island and across the United States.

Full PDF article at:   http://goo.gl/7MCT2a

By:  Chan PA1, Towey C2, Poceta J2, Rose J3, Bertrand T4, Kantor R1, Harvey J2, Santamaria EK5, Alexander-Scott N4, Nunn A6.

• 1Brown University, Department of Medicine, Providence, RI.
• 2Rhode Island Public Health Institute, Providence, RI.
• 3Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT.
• 4Rhode Island Department of Health, Providence, RI.
• 5Brown University School of Public Health, Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Providence, RI.
• 6Rhode Island Public Health Institute, Providence, RI; Brown University School of Public Health, Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Providence, RI. 
• Public Health Rep. 2016 Mar-Apr;131(2):264-71.

More at:  https://twitter.com/hiv insight

And: http://twitter.com/Prison Health

Systematic Assessment of Linkage to Care for Persons with HIV Released from Corrections Facilities Using Existing Datasets

Populations in corrections continue to have high prevalence of HIV. Expanded testing and treatment programs allow persons to be identified and stabilized on treatment while incarcerated. However, these gains and frequently lost on reentry. Systemic frameworks are needed to monitor linkage to care to guide programs supporting linkage to care. 

To assess the adequacy of linkage to care on reentry, incarceration data from the National Corrections Reporting Program and data from the Ryan White Services Report from 2010 to 2012 were linked using an encrypted client identification (eUCI). Time from release to the first visit and presence of detectable HIV RNA at linkage were assessed. Multivariate survival analyses were performed to identify associations between patient characteristics and time to linkage. 

Among those linking, only 43% in Rhode Island and 49% in North Carolina linked within 90 days, and 33% in both states had detectable viremia at the first visit. Those not previously in care and with shorter incarceration experiences longer linkage times. Persons identified as black, had median times greater than 1 year. 

Using existing datasets, significant gaps in linkage to care for persons with HIV on release from corrections were demonstrated in Rhode Island and North Carolina. Systemically implementing this monitoring to evaluate changes over time would provide important information to support interventions to improve linkage in high-risk populations. 

Using national datasets for both corrections and clinical data, this framework equally could be used to evaluate experiences of persons with HIV linking to care on release from corrections facilities nationwide.

Purchase full article at:   http://goo.gl/CDkwPk

By:  Montague BT1, Rosen DL2, Sammartino C3, Costa M4, Gutman R3, Solomon L4, Rich J3,5.

• 1 Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Colorado , Aurora, Colorado.
• 2 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
• 3 School of Public Health, Brown University , Providence, Rhode Island.
• 4 Abt Associates , Cambridge, Massachusetts.
• 5 Warren Alpert School of Medicine, Brown University , Providence, Rhode Island.

More at:  https://twitter.com/hiv insight

And: http://twitter.com/Prison Health

A Latent Class Analysis of Risk Factors for Acquiring HIV among Men Who Have Sex with Men: Implications for Implementing Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Programs

Current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for prescribing pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV transmission are broad. In order to better characterize groups who may benefit most from PrEP, we reviewed demographics, behaviors, and clinical outcomes for individuals presenting to a publicly-funded sexually transmitted diseases (STD) clinic in Providence, Rhode Island, from 2012 to 2014. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to identify subgroups of men who have sex with men (MSM) at highest risk for contracting HIV. 

A total of 1723 individuals presented for testing (75% male; 31% MSM). MSM were more likely to test HIV positive than heterosexual men or women. Among 538 MSM, we identified four latent classes. 

• Class 1 had the highest rates of incarceration (33%), forced sex (24%), but had no HIV infections. 
• Class 2 had <5 anal sex partners in the previous 12 months, the lowest rates of drug/alcohol use during sex and lower HIV prevalence (3%). 
• Class 3 had the highest prevalence of HIV (7%) and other STDs (16%), > 10 anal sex partners in the previous 12 months (69%), anonymous partners (100%), drug/alcohol use during sex (76%), and prior STDs (40%). 
• Class 4 had similar characteristics and HIV prevalence as Class 2. In this population, MSM who may benefit most from PrEP include those who have >10 sexual partners per year, anonymous partners, drug/alcohol use during sex and prior STDs. 

LCA is a useful tool for identifying clusters of characteristics that may place individuals at higher risk for HIV infection and who may benefit most from PrEP in clinical practice.

Purchase full article at: http://ht.ly/Sy82s 

By: Chan PA1, Rose J2, Maher J1, Benben S1, Pfeiffer K1, Almonte A1, Poceta J1, Oldenburg CE3, Parker S4, Marshall BD5, Lally M1, Mayer K6, Mena L7, Patel R8,Nunn AS9.

• 11 Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Alpert Medical School of Brown University , Providence, Rhode Island.
• 22 Department of Psychology, Wesleyan University , Middletown, Connecticut.
• 33 Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health , Cambridge, Massachusetts.
• 44 Department of Social Work, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University , Greensboro, North Carolina.
• 55 Department of Epidemiology, Brown University School of Public Health , Providence, Rhode Island.
• 66 Fenway Health, The Fenway Institute , Boston, Massachusetts.
• 77 Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Mississippi Medical Center , Jackson, Mississippi.
• 88 Division of Infectious Diseases, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine , St. Louis, Missouri.
• 99 Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Brown University School of Public Health , Providence, Rhode Island.
• 
  More at:  https://twitter.com/hiv_insight