Prevalence and Determinants of Recent HIV Testing Among Sexually Active Men Who Have Sex With Men in the St. Louis Metropolitan Area, Missouri, 2008

Men who have sex with men comprise the majority of new HIV diagnoses in the St. Louis metropolitan area, and "[CDC] recommends HIV testing at least annually for sexually active MSM," noted the study authors, who examined prevalence and factors associated with recent HIV testing among this population.

Data from the 2008 National HIV Behavioral Surveillance system -- a venue-based, time-space sample of men in 21 US metropolitan areas who were interviewed for behavioral risks and testing history -- were used. The analysis included men in St. Louis who had engaged in male-male sex during the previous year and excluded men who had tested HIV-positive more than 12 months before the interviews. Log-binomial regression was used to identify factors associated with previous-year testing.

Slightly more than half (58 percent) of the 339 MSM had been tested in the previous 12 months. MSM were more likely to have been screened for HIV if they were black (adjusted prevalence ratio: 1.6; 95 percent confidence interval: 1.0-2.5); had seen a health care provider during the timeframe (APR: 1.6; 95 percent CI: 1.3-2.1); or had ever disclosed same-sex attractions or male-male sex to providers (APR: 1.6, 95 percent CI: 1.2-2.0). Of the 141 untested MSM, 63 percent attributed not testing to perceived low risk.

"Nearly half of sexually active MSM in this analysis had not been tested for HIV during the previous year. Annual visits to health care providers during which sexual risk is discussed are likely to promote testing among MSM," the authors concluded.

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