title: HIV-related behaviors, social support and health-related quality of life among men who have sex with men and women (MSMW): a cross-sectional study in Chongqing, China.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) has become commonly used both as a concept and as a field of research. However, little is known about the HRQOL of men who have sex with men and women (MSMW). The aim of this study was to examine HIV-related behaviors, social support, and HRQOL status and explore its predictors among MSMW.
  
  
  METHODS
  An anonymous cross-sectional study was conducted by snowball sampling method in 2013. A total of 563 Chinese MSM completed a structured questionnaire. The HRQOL and social support were measured with the Chinese version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale (WHOQOL-BRFE) and the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 563 MSM analyzed, 77 (13.68%) were MSMW who had a higher proportion of in-marriage and preference for an insertive role as compared with the men who have sex with men only (MSMO) (P<0.05). As high as 70.13% of MSMW had no regular sex partners and 72.73% of MSMW reported engaging in unprotected anal sex in the last six months. 36.36% had tested for HIV, while only 12.99% had accepted HIV voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) services. The scores of objective support and subjective support in MSMW were significantly higher than that of MSMO (P<0.05). No statistically significant difference was found in scores of all the four domains of the HRQOL between MSMW and MSMO. When comparing the HRQOL scores of MSMW with the Chinese general population reference group, the scores of MSMW were significantly lower in physical health domain. In a multivariate regression model, age, monthly income, sexual role, VCT acceptability, subjective support were associated with variability in HRQOL.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  To improve the HRQOL among MSMW, more attention needs to be paid to those with low social support, low-income, the old and those prefer a receptive role during anal sex populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Statistics and Information Management, School of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Jiang-Peng
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Statistics and Information Management, School of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Ming-Ming
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zi-Jun
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Statistics and Information Management, School of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Zhen-Zhen
authors.initials: ZZ
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.affiliation: Beichuan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Mianyang, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Statistics and Information Management, School of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Statistics and Information Management, School of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Yan
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Statistics and Information Management, School of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Shan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Statistics and Information Management, School of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Que
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Statistics and Information Management, School of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Statistics and Information Management, School of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Peng
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001727:Bisexuality / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002681:China; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012944:Social Support