title: "Just Because It's Out There, People Aren't Going to Use It." HIV Self-Testing Among Young, Black MSM, and Transgender Women.
abstract: HIV disproportionately affects young black MSM and transgender women in the US. Increasing HIV testing rates among these populations is a critical public health goal. Although HIV self-tests are commercially available, there is a need to better understand access to and uptake of HIV self-testing among this population. Here, we report results of a qualitative study of 30 young black MSM and transgender women residing in the New York City area to understand facilitators of and barriers to a range of HIV testing approaches, including self-testing. Mean age was 23.7 years (SD = 3.4). Over half (54%) had some college or an associate's degree, yet 37% had an annual personal income of less than $10,000 per year. Most (64%) participants had tested in the past 6 months; venues included community health/free clinics, medical offices, mobile testing units, hospitals, emergency departments, and research sites. Just one participant reported ever using a commercially available HIV self-test. Facilitators of self-testing included convenience, control, and privacy, particularly as compared to venue-based testing. Barriers to self-testing included the cost of the test, anxiety regarding accessing the test, concerns around correct test operation, and lack of support if a test result is positive. Participants indicated that instruction in correct test operation and social support in the event of a positive test result may increase the likelihood that they would use the self-test. Alongside developing new approaches to HIV prevention, developing ways to increase HIV self-testing is a public health priority for young, black MSM, and transgender women.
authors.affiliation: 1 Laboratories of Social and Behavioral Sciences, New York Blood Center , New York, New York.|2 Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University , New York, New York.
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Frye
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Human Development, State University of New York at Binghamton , Binghamton, New York.|4 Faculty of Humanities, University of Johannesburg , Johannesburg, South Africa .
authors.forename: Leo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wilton
authors.affiliation: 5 Public Health Solutions , New York, New York.
authors.forename: Sabina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hirshfied
authors.affiliation: 5 Public Health Solutions , New York, New York.
authors.forename: Mary Ann
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Chiasson
authors.affiliation: 6 Project ACHIEVE, Laboratory of Infectious Disease Prevention, New York Blood Center , New York, New York.
authors.forename: DaShawn
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Usher
authors.affiliation: 6 Project ACHIEVE, Laboratory of Infectious Disease Prevention, New York Blood Center , New York, New York.
authors.forename: Debbie
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lucy
authors.affiliation: 6 Project ACHIEVE, Laboratory of Infectious Disease Prevention, New York Blood Center , New York, New York.
authors.forename: Jermaine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McCrossin
authors.affiliation: 1 Laboratories of Social and Behavioral Sciences, New York Blood Center , New York, New York.|7 Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University , New York, New York.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Greene
authors.forename: Beryl
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Koblin
authors.affiliation: 8 Laboratories of Infectious Disease Prevention, New York Blood Center , New York, New York.
authors.forename: Beryl
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kobin
mesh_terms: D015492:AIDS Serodiagnosis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D044383:Black People / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006306:Health Surveys; D018451:Homosexuality, Male; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D009519:New York City; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012944:Social Support; D063106:Transgender Persons; D055815:Young Adult