title: Correlates of requesting home HIV self-testing kits on online social networks among African-American and Latino men who have sex with men.
abstract: High levels of HIV stigma are one of the main difficulties in engaging African-American and Latino men who have sex with men (MSM) in HIV testing. The availability of home HIV test and the possibility of self-testing in private may improve uptake and counteract stigma. This paper sought to determine the correlates of requesting home HIV test kits among a sample of MSM social media users. The odds of participants requesting a test kit were significantly associated with using social networks to seek sexual partners (aOR: 2.47, 95% CI: 1.07-6.06) and thinking it is easier to use social networks for seeking sexual partners (1.87, 1.2-3.12), uncertain HIV status (4.29, 1.37-14.4), and having sex under the influence of alcohol (2.46, 1.06-5.77). Participants who had not been tested for more than 6 months were more likely to request a test kit than those who were tested in the past 6 months (2.53, 1.02-6.37). Participants who frequently talked to others about having sex with men online were less likely to request a test kit (0.73, 0.56-0.92). By reaching people over social media and offering them access to test kits, we were able to reach at-risk individuals who were uncertain about their HIV status and had not been regularly tested. The findings of the study will help to inform future HIV testing interventions.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Family Medicine , University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) , Los Angeles , CA , USA.
authors.forename: ChingChe J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.affiliation: a Department of Family Medicine , University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) , Los Angeles , CA , USA.
authors.forename: Sean D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Young
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012747:Sexual Partners; D061108:Social Media / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D060756:Social Networking; D057545:Social Stigma; D012944:Social Support; D014481:United States
keywords: African-American and Latino MSM; HIV self-testing kits; Internet; MSM; online social networks; social media