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Mauck DE, Sheehan DM, Fennie KP, Maddox LM, Trepka MJ. Role of Gay Neighborhood Status and Other Neighborhood Factors in Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Retention in Care and Viral Load Suppression Among Men Who Have Sex with Men, Florida, 2015. AIDS Behav 2018; 22:2978-2993. [PMID: 29372456 PMCID: PMC6060015 DOI: 10.1007/s10461-018-2032-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
This study's objective was to examine the role of gay neighborhood residence and other neighborhood factors in racial/ethnic disparities in retention in HIV care and viral load suppression during 2015. Florida residents diagnosed 2000-2014 with HIV infection and with transmission mode of men who have sex with men (MSM) were included in multi-level logistic regression models. Of 29,156 MSM, 29.4% were not retained and 34.2% were not virally suppressed. Non-Hispanic Blacks (NHB) had a higher likelihood of not being retained (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR] 1.31, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.24-1.38, p value < 0.0001) and not being virally suppressed (aPR 1.82, 95% CI 1.67-1.98, p value < 0.0001) compared with non-Hispanic Whites. Among NHBs, rural residence was protective for both outcomes. Although gay neighborhood residence was not associated with either outcome, the role of other neighborhood factors suggests that individual and neighborhood barriers to HIV care and treatment should be addressed among MSM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel E Mauck
- Department of Epidemiology, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Diana M Sheehan
- Department of Epidemiology, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
- Center for Research on US Latino HIV/AIDS and Drug Abuse, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Kristopher P Fennie
- Department of Epidemiology, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Lorene M Maddox
- HIV/AIDS Section, Florida Department of Health, Tallahassee, FL, USA
| | - Mary Jo Trepka
- Department of Epidemiology, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA.
- Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th St, AHC 5, Room 487, Miami, FL, 33199, USA.
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Shame and blame and its influence on male gay (chaay rak chaay) quality of life in Bangkok Thailand: a health promotion community nursing perspective. JOURNAL OF PUBLIC MENTAL HEALTH 2017. [DOI: 10.1108/jpmh-12-2016-0054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore gay male informant experiences of discrimination and stigma in Bangkok from a health promotion community nursing perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 30 informants and included field work observations at eight entertainment venues. Data analysis utilised an inductive thematic approach.
Findings
Key themes that emerged from the data were related to communication, particularly the use of smart phone applications; lack of privacy in health services; sexual exploitation by entertainment venues; and concerns about coming out safely to protect self-esteem and mental health.
Originality/value
Development of key mental health promotion messages based on a greater understanding and knowledge of discrimination and stigma may help to reduce negative behaviour and stigmatisation towards Thai gay men in Bangkok.
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Gamarel KE, Brown L, Kahler CW, Fernandez MI, Bruce D, Nichols S. Prevalence and correlates of substance use among youth living with HIV in clinical settings. Drug Alcohol Depend 2016; 169:11-18. [PMID: 27750182 PMCID: PMC5140709 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2016.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2016] [Revised: 09/25/2016] [Accepted: 10/01/2016] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to better understand the prevalence and correlates of substance use behaviors among HIV-infected adolescents in HIV care settings. METHODS A cross-sectional sample of 2216 youth living with HIV (YLWH; ages 12-26) were recruited through the Adolescent Trials Network for HIV Interventions. Participants completed a one-time survey on sociodemographic factors, substance use and health behaviors. We used logistic regression models to understand the correlates of substance use outcomes. RESULTS Overall, weekly or more frequent tobacco use was reported by 32.9% of participants, 27.5% marijuana use, and 21.3% alcohol use; and 22.5% reported any other illicit drug use. In multivariable models, young MSM had higher odds of reporting each substance use behavior, and transgender women had increased odds of marijuana and other illicit drug use. Criminal justice involvement, unstable housing, condomless sex, and suboptimal antiretroviral therapy was associated with increased risk of substance use behaviors. CONCLUSIONS Study findings highlight the need for regular screening for substance use in HIV care settings in order to improve access to and delivery of culturally competent substance use prevention and treatment services.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristi E Gamarel
- Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI USA; Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI USA.
| | - Larry Brown
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI USA; Department of Psychiatry, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI USA
| | - Christopher W Kahler
- Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI USA; Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI USA
| | - M Isabel Fernandez
- Department of Preventive Medicine and Department of Public Health Program, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, FL USA
| | - Douglas Bruce
- Department of Health Sciences, DePaul University, Chicago, IL USA
| | - Sharon Nichols
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, CA USA
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Abstract
Men continue to bear disproportionate accounts of HIV diagnoses. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care act aims to address health care disparities by recommending preventative services, including HIV screening, expanding community health centers, and increasing the healthcare workforce. This study examined the decision making of physician and primary care health providers to provide HIV screenings. A quasi-experimental design was used to estimate the effects of the Affordable Care Act on provider-initiated HIV screening. The National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey was used to examine HIV screening characteristic from two time periods: 2009 and 2012. Logistic regression indicated that patient and provider characteristics were associated with likelihood of being prescribed HIV screening. Non-Hispanic Black men were more likely to be prescribed HIV screening compared to non-Hispanic White men (odds ratio [OR] = 12.33, 95% confidence interval [CI; 4.42, 34.46]). Men who see primary care providers were more likely to be prescribed HIV screening compared to men not seeing a primary care provider (OR = 5.94, 95% CI [2.15, 16.39]). Men between the ages of 19 and 22 were more likely to be prescribed HIV screening compared to men between the ages of 15 and 18 (OR = 6.59, 95% CI [2.16, 20.14]). Men between the ages of 23 and 25 were more likely to be prescribed HIV screening compared with men between the ages of 15 and 18 (OR = 10.13, 95% CI [3.34, 30.69]). Health education programs identifying men at increased risk for contracting HIV may account for the increased screening rates in certain populations. Future research should examine age disparities surrounding adolescent and young men HIV screening.
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Reaching the unreached: treatment as prevention as a workable strategy to mitigate HIV and its consequences in high-risk groups. Curr HIV/AIDS Rep 2015; 11:505-12. [PMID: 25342571 DOI: 10.1007/s11904-014-0238-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
While there have been significant advances in curbing the HIV disease epidemic worldwide, there continues to be significant number of incident cases with 2.3 million new infections in the year 2012 alone. Treatment as prevention (TasP), which involves the use of antiretroviral drugs to decrease the likelihood of HIV illness, death and transmission from infected individuals to their noninfected sexual and /or drug paraphernalia-sharing injecting partners, must be incorporated into any HIV prevention strategy that is going to be successful on a large scale. Especially in resource-limited settings, the focus of the prevention approach should be on high-risk groups who contribute disproportionately to community HIV transmission, including people who inject drugs (PWID), men who have sex with men (MSM) and sex workers. Innovative strategies including integrated care services adapted to different patient care settings have to and can be employed to reach these at-risk populations.
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Fernández MI, Huszti HC, Wilson PA, Kahana S, Nichols S, Gonin R, Xu J, Kapogiannis BG. Profiles of Risk Among HIV-Infected Youth in Clinic Settings. AIDS Behav 2015; 19:918-30. [PMID: 25117556 PMCID: PMC4326610 DOI: 10.1007/s10461-014-0876-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Despite the rising number of new HIV infections among youth, few tailored interventions for youth living with HIV (YLH) have been developed and rigorously tested. Developing tailored interventions necessitates identifying different profiles of YLH and understanding how risk and protective factors cluster together. Obtaining this critical information requires accessing a sufficiently large sample of YLH from diverse geographic settings such as those available through the Adolescent Trials Network for HIV Interventions (ATN). We recruited a cross-sectional sample of 1,712 YLH from ATN clinics; participants completed a survey on psychosocial and health factors. Using latent class analysis on nine composite variables representing risk factors, we identified five classes distinguished by substance use, sexual behavior, and pregnancy history and differing on health outcomes. Findings suggest a need for tailored interventions addressing multiple risky behaviors of HIV-infected youth and research to clarify how intervention effectiveness may differ by risk profile.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Isabel Fernández
- Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Nova Southeastern University, Davie, FL, USA,
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Schrager SM, Latkin CA, Weiss G, Kubicek K, Kipke MD. High-risk sexual activity in the House and Ball community: influence of social networks. Am J Public Health 2014; 104:326-31. [PMID: 24328654 PMCID: PMC3935685 DOI: 10.2105/ajph.2013.301543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/02/2013] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES We investigated the roles of House membership and the influence of social and sexual network members on the sexual risk behavior of men in the Los Angeles House and Ball community. METHODS From February 2009 to January 2010, male participants (n = 233) completed interviewer-assisted surveys during a House meeting or Ball event. We used logistic regression to model the effects of sexual network size, influence of sexual network members, House membership status, and their interactions on high-risk sex. RESULTS Significant predictors of high-risk sex included number of sexual partners in the nominated social network, multiethnicity, and previous diagnosis of sexually transmitted infection. House membership was protective against high-risk sex. Additionally, a 3-way interaction emerged between number of sexual partners in the network, influence, and network members' House membership. CONCLUSIONS Future research should assess network members' attitudes and behavior in detail to provide a greater understanding of the dynamics of social influence and to identify additional avenues for intervention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheree M Schrager
- Sheree M. Schrager is with the Division of Adolescent Medicine, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, CA. Carl A. Latkin is with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD. George Weiss is with the Children's Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases, Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Katrina Kubicek and Michele D. Kipke are with the Community, Health Outcomes, and Intervention Research Program, the Saban Research Institute, Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Michele D. Kipke is also with the Department of Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
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Grov C, Breslow AS, Newcomb ME, Rosenberger JG, Bauermeister JA. Gay and bisexual men's use of the Internet: research from the 1990s through 2013. JOURNAL OF SEX RESEARCH 2014; 51:390-409. [PMID: 24754360 PMCID: PMC4154140 DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2013.871626] [Citation(s) in RCA: 206] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
We document the historical and cultural shifts in how gay and bisexual men have used the Internet for sexuality between the 1990s and 2013-including shifting technology as well as research methods to study gay and bisexual men online. Gay and bisexual men have rapidly taken to using the Internet for sexual purposes: for health information seeking, finding sex partners, dating, cybersex, and pornography. Men have adapted to the ever-evolving technological advances that have been made in connecting users to the Internet-from logging on via dial-up modem on a desktop computer to geo-social-sexual networking via handheld devices. In kind, researchers have adapted to the Internet to study gay and bisexual men. Studies have carefully considered the ethics, feasibility, and acceptability of using the Internet to conduct research and interventions. Much of this work has been grounded in models of disease prevention, largely as a result of the ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic. The need to reduce HIV in this population has been a driving force to develop innovative research and Internet-based intervention methodologies. The Internet, and specifically mobile technology, is an environment gay and bisexual men are using for sexual purposes. These innovative technologies represent powerful resources for researchers to study and provide outreach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Grov
- Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of CUNY, New York, NY. USA
- The Center for HIV/AIDS Educational Studies and Training (CHEST), New York, NY. USA
| | - Aaron S. Breslow
- The Center for HIV/AIDS Educational Studies and Training (CHEST), New York, NY. USA
| | - Michael E. Newcomb
- Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Joshua G. Rosenberger
- Department of Global and Community Health, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA
| | - Jose A Bauermeister
- The Center for Sexuality & Health Disparities, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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Sullivan PS, Grey JA, Simon Rosser BR. Emerging technologies for HIV prevention for MSM: what we have learned, and ways forward. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 2013; 63 Suppl 1:S102-7. [PMID: 23673879 PMCID: PMC3670990 DOI: 10.1097/qai.0b013e3182949e85] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Technology-enabled HIV research and prevention has emerged in the past 10 years as an exciting dynamic field that offers great potential to help bring HIV prevention efforts to scale in key risk communities. Evolutions in technologies and in HIV epidemics suggest mutual opportunities to reach most at risk populations in novel ways. New technologies cannot completely replace interventions and services currently delivered by the people. However, we suggest that emerging technologies hold promise to bring services to scale and produce efficiencies in reaching rural populations of men who have sex with men (MSM), connecting with populations who are not reached in current urban outreach efforts, and providing services or research surveys that can be described algorithmically. Furthermore, the types of technologies (eg, internet-based, smartphone-based, text messaging) should be matched with both the content to be delivered and the technology usage patterns of target populations. We suggest several key principles and lessons learned that comprise a framework in which to consider the opportunities of technologies and HIV prevention and research. Future directions include improvement of data quality in online surveying, better characterization of biases, developing improved sampling approaches, working with funders to ensure compatibility of funding mechanisms and online research proposals, and promoting consensus approaches to the duplication and presentation of research and program evaluation results from online research. Given the current calls for comprehensive packages of prevention services for MSM, effective prevention might require an intentional combination of technology-enabled prevention services to achieve scale and strategic use of personally delivered package components in cases where non-algorithmic services, such as individualized counseling, are needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick S Sullivan
- Department of Epidemiology, Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
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Muessig KE, Pike EC, Fowler B, LeGrand S, Parsons JT, Bull SS, Wilson PA, Wohl DA, Hightow-Weidman LB. Putting prevention in their pockets: developing mobile phone-based HIV interventions for black men who have sex with men. AIDS Patient Care STDS 2013; 27:211-22. [PMID: 23565925 PMCID: PMC3624691 DOI: 10.1089/apc.2012.0404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 145] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Young black men who have sex with men (MSM) bear a disproportionate burden of HIV. Rapid expansion of mobile technologies, including smartphone applications (apps), provides a unique opportunity for outreach and tailored health messaging. We collected electronic daily journals and conducted surveys and focus groups with 22 black MSM (age 18-30) at three sites in North Carolina to inform the development of a mobile phone-based intervention. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically using NVivo. Half of the sample earned under $11,000 annually. All participants owned smartphones and had unlimited texting and many had unlimited data plans. Phones were integral to participants' lives and were a primary means of Internet access. Communication was primarily through text messaging and Internet (on-line chatting, social networking sites) rather than calls. Apps were used daily for entertainment, information, productivity, and social networking. Half of participants used their phones to find sex partners; over half used phones to find health information. For an HIV-related app, participants requested user-friendly content about test site locators, sexually transmitted diseases, symptom evaluation, drug and alcohol risk, safe sex, sexuality and relationships, gay-friendly health providers, and connection to other gay/HIV-positive men. For young black MSM in this qualitative study, mobile technologies were a widely used, acceptable means for HIV intervention. Future research is needed to measure patterns and preferences of mobile technology use among broader samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn E Muessig
- Department of Infectious Diseases, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA.
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