title: Opportunities for HIV Prevention Communication During Sexual Encounters with Black Men Who Have Sex with Men.
abstract: Conversations about HIV prevention before engaging in sex may result in safer sex practices and decreased HIV transmission. However, partner communication for HIV prevention has been understudied among black/African American men who have sex with men (BMSM), a group that is disproportionately affected by HIV. We explored and described encounters and perceptions about HIV prevention conversations among BMSM and their sex partner(s) in New York City. We conducted an inductive thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with BMSM who reported sex with a man in the previous 3 months. Interviews were professionally transcribed; Nvivo was used for data analysis. Twenty-two BMSM were included in this analysis; median age = 29.1 years; 71.4% self-identified as MSM; 85.7% were ever HIV tested; and 52.6% reported no disclosure or discussion about HIV status with their previous sex partner. The main themes were: (1) missed opportunities for HIV prevention conversations (e.g., no HIV prevention conversations or HIV prevention conversations after sex had occurred); (2) barriers to HIV prevention conversations (e.g., being in the moment; not wanting to pause); (3) emotional thoughts after sex (e.g., feeling worried about possible HIV exposure); and (4) rethinking relationships and sexual health (e.g., changed sex practices by asking partners' HIV status before sex; started using condoms). These findings offer insight into HIV prevention conversations by BMSM around the time of or during sexual encounters and may inform and strengthen partner-level HIV prevention communication interventions for BMSM.
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , Atlanta, Georgia .
authors.forename: Tiffiany M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Aholou
authors.affiliation: 2 Community Health Program at Kingsborough Community College, City University of New York , New York, New York.
authors.forename: Jose
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nanin
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , Atlanta, Georgia .|3 LifeSource Biomedical , LLC, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Kathryn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Drumhiller
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , Atlanta, Georgia .
authors.forename: Madeline Y
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Sutton
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D044383:Black People / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003142:Communication; D017280:Condoms / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D009519:New York City / Q000453:epidemiology; D036301:Qualitative Research; D021841:Safe Sex / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012747:Sexual Partners; D014342:Truth Disclosure; D047568:Unsafe Sex / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Black/African American; HIV; communication; men who have sex with men