HIV testing patterns and unrecognized HIV infection among young Asian and Pacific Islander men who have sex with men in San Francisco.
The HIV epidemic is rising in Asian and Pacific Islander men who have sex with men (API MSM), who are often first diagnosed with HIV at a late stage of disease. We investigated the HIV testing patterns, correlates of prior testing, and awareness of HIV infection of 495 API MSM aged 18-29 years recruited from venues in San Francisco, using standardized face-to-face interviews. One quarter of participants had never tested for HIV, citing reasons such as perceived low risk, fear of results, and fear of needles. Older age, gay sexual orientation, history of sexually transmitted disease, higher lifetime number of sexual partners, and higher acculturation were significantly and independently associated with prior testing. Thirteen (2.6%) tested HIV-positive, of whom eight were unaware of their infection, five perceived themselves to be at low risk for HIV, and five reported recent UAI. These findings underscore the need to increase access to culturally appropriate and targeted HIV testing and to change perceptions of risk in this population.
Do
Tri D
TD
Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University of California-San Francisco, 74 New Montgomery Street, Ste. 600, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA. tdo@psg.ucsf.edu
Chen
Sanny
S
McFarland
Willi
W
Secura
Gina M
GM
Behel
Stephanie K
SK
MacKellar
Duncan A
DA
Valleroy
Linda A
LA
Cho
Kyung-Hee
KH
D015492:AIDS Serodiagnosis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000069:Acculturation; D000328:Adult; D001213:Asian / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003376:Counseling / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology*; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D044468:Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010139:Pacific Islands / Q000208:ethnology; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology*; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012495:San Francisco / Q000453:epidemiology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors