Circumcision status and HIV infection among Black and Latino men who have sex with men in 3 US cities.
OBJECTIVE
To examine characteristics of circumcised and uncircumcised Latino and black men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States and assess the association between circumcision and HIV infection.


METHODS
Using respondent-driven sampling, 1154 black MSM and 1091 Latino MSM were recruited from New York City, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. A 45-minute computer-assisted interview and a rapid oral fluid HIV antibody test (OraSure Technologies, Bethlehem, PA) were administered to participants.


RESULTS
Circumcision prevalence was higher among black MSM than among Latino MSM (74% vs. 33%; P < 0.0001). Circumcised MSM in both racial/ethnic groups were more likely than uncircumcised MSM to be born in the United States or to have a US-born parent. Circumcision status was not associated with prevalent HIV infection among Latino MSM, black MSM, black bisexual men, or black or Latino men who reported being HIV-negative based on their last HIV test. Further, circumcision was not associated with a reduced likelihood of HIV infection among men who had engaged in unprotected insertive and not unprotected receptive anal sex.


CONCLUSIONS
In these cross-sectional data, there was no evidence that being circumcised was protective against HIV infection among black MSM or Latino MSM.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. gmillett@cdc.gov
Gregorio A
GA
Millett
Helen
H
Ding
Jennifer
J
Lauby
Stephen
S
Flores
Ann
A
Stueve
Trista
T
Bingham
Alex
A
Carballo-Dieguez
Chris
C
Murrill
Kai-Lih
KL
Liu
Darrell
D
Wheeler
Adrian
A
Liau
Gary
G
Marks
D000328:Adult; D001727:Bisexuality; D044383:Black People; D002944:Circumcision, Male / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D018451:Homosexuality, Male; D006801:Humans; D015141:Los Angeles / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009519:New York City / Q000453:epidemiology; D015143:Philadelphia / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry; D001741:Black or African American
D015483:HIV Antibodies