title: Reasons for not taking an HIV-test among untested men who have sex with men: an Internet study.
abstract: The present paper focuses on reasons for not taking an HIV-test among untested men who have sex with men (MSM). From an MSM web-based survey, 1627 MSM who had never tested for HIV were selected for the reported analyses. Results show that fear of a positive test result and the perceived consequences thereof, are reported as the most important reasons for not taking an HIV-test among at-risk respondents. The most important reasons for not taking an HIV-test among no-risk respondents are related to perception of low risk for HIV-infection. Implications for future interventions to promote HIV-testing are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands. J.Mikolajczak@psychology.unimaas.nl
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mikolajczak
authors.forename: Harm J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Hospers
authors.forename: Gerjo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kok
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012309:Risk-Taking; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014836:Volition