Association of co-occurring psychosocial health problems and increased vulnerability to HIV/AIDS among urban men who have sex with men.
OBJECTIVE
We measured the extent to which a set of psychosocial health problems have an additive effect on increasing HIV risk among men who have sex with men (MSM).


METHODS
We conducted a cross-sectional household probability telephone sample of MSM in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco.


RESULTS
Psychosocial health problems are highly intercorrelated among urban MSM. Greater numbers of health problems are significantly and positively associated with high-risk sexual behavior and HIV infection.


CONCLUSIONS
AIDS prevention among MSM has overwhelmingly focused on sexual risk alone. Other health problems among MSM not only are important in their own right, but also may interact to increase HIV risk. HIV prevention might become more effective by addressing the broader health concerns of MSM while also focusing on sexual risks.
Stall
Ron
R
Prevention Research Branch, Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. rstall@cdc.gov
Mills
Thomas C
TC
Williamson
John
J
Hart
Trevor
T
Greenwood
Greg
G
Paul
Jay
J
Pollack
Lance
L
Binson
Diane
D
Osmond
Dennis
D
Catania
Joseph A
JA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002641:Chicago / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D005191:Family Characteristics; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D015141:Los Angeles / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009519:New York City / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D021841:Safe Sex / Q000523:psychology*; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012495:San Francisco / Q000453:epidemiology; D014504:Urban Health