Identifying HIV prevention service needs of African American men who have sex with men: an application of spatial analysis techniques to service planning.
BACKGROUND
Black men who have sex with men (MSM) are a priority population for HIV prevention.


METHODS
We applied spatial analysis techniques to map the availability of HIV prevention services to young black MSM in Chicago to guide prevention planning. GIS was used to map characteristics of ZIP codes in Chicago. Choropleth maps and descriptive statistics were used to visualize and analyze the data.


RESULTS
Areas where young black MSM reside typically have low HIV service densities. HIV service density also corresponds poorly to some ZIP codes in which young black MSM who report high rates of unprotected sexual behavior reside.


CONCLUSIONS
Spatial analysis can show whether services are located near specific populations of interest. Data from multiple sources can be integrated to explore relationships among characteristics of geographic zones.
Pierce
Steven J
SJ
Ecological/Community Interest Group of the Department of Psychology at Michigan State University, East Lansing 48824-1116, USA. pierces1@msu.edu
Miller
Robin Lin
RL
Morales
Mercedes M
MM
Forney
Jason
J
D001741:Black or African American; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D002641:Chicago / Q000453:epidemiology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D018672:Community Health Planning / Q000458:organization & administration; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008377:Maps as Topic; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D011635:Public Health Administration; D047568:Unsafe Sex / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*