title: Men who have sex with men in Kisumu, Kenya: comfort in accessing health services and willingness to participate in HIV prevention studies.
abstract: Men who have sex with men (MSM) are a crucial and marginalized at risk population for HIV in Africa but are poorly studied. Like other areas of Africa, homosexuality is illegal in Kenya. We assessed MSM comfort in accessing health services and willingness to participate in HIV prevention research in Kisumu, Kenya-an area of high HIV prevalence. We conducted a two-phase formative study with individual interviews (n = 15) and a structured survey (n = 51). Peer contact or snowball method (n = 43, 84.3%) was the primary recruitment strategy used to locate MSM. Exact logistic regression models were used for survey data analysis. Over 60% (32/51) of survey participants were not very comfortable seeking health services from a public hospital. Almost all MSM (49/51; 96.1%) reported willingness to be contacted to participate in future HIV research studies. Efforts to provide facilities that offer safe and confidential health services and health education for MSM is required. Continued community engagement with the MSM population in Kenya is needed to guide best practices for involving them in HIV prevention research.
authors.affiliation: a Kenya Medical Research Institute , Kisumu , Kenya.
authors.forename: Dancun O
authors.initials: DO
authors.lastname: Okall
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ondenge
authors.forename: Monicah
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nyambura
authors.forename: Fredrick O
authors.initials: FO
authors.lastname: Otieno
authors.forename: Felicia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hardnett
authors.forename: Kyle
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: Lisa A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Mills
authors.forename: Kennedy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Masinya
authors.forename: Robert T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Deborah A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Gust
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D035843:Biomedical Research; D003625:Data Collection; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007630:Kenya / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D035842:Research Subjects / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Africa; Kenya; MSM; confidentiality; health services; participation in HIV research studies; stigma
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