LGBTQ+ Affirming Care May Increase Awareness and Understanding of Undetectable = Untransmittable among Midlife and Older Gay and Bisexual Men in the US South

Association of Affirming Care with Chronic Disease and Preventive Care Outcomes among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Older Adults

INTRODUCTION

Experiences of discrimination and bias in healthcare contribute to health disparities for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer populations. To avoid discrimination, many go to great lengths to find healthcare providers who they trust and who are knowledgeable about their health needs. This study examines whether access to an affirming provider improves health outcomes for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer populations across a range of preventive health and chronic disease management outcomes.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study uses Poisson regression models to examine original survey data (n=1,120) from Wave 1 of the Vanderbilt University Social Networks, Aging, and Policy Study, a panel study examining older (aged 50-76 years) lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer adults' health and aging, collected between April 2020 and September 2021.

RESULTS

Overall, access to an affirming provider is associated with greater uptake of preventive health screenings and improved management of mental health conditions. Participants with an affirming provider are more likely to have ever and recently received several types of preventive care than participants reporting a usual source of care that is not affirming, including past year provider visit, influenza vaccination, colorectal cancer screening, and HIV test. Access to an affirming provider is also associated with better management of mental health conditions.

CONCLUSIONS

Inclusive care is essential for reducing health disparities among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer populations. Health systems can reduce disparities by expanding continuing education opportunities; adopting nondiscrimination policies for patients and employees; and ensuring that necessary care is covered by health insurance.

Self-Reported Combination HIV Prevention Strategies Enacted by a Prospective Cohort of Midlife and Older Men Who Have Sex with Men in the United States: A Latent Class Analysis

Insights into combination HIV prevention (CHP) strategies to reduce HIV incidence among midlife and older adult men who have sex with men (MSM) are limited. The current study is a secondary data analysis evaluating CHP in a sample of sexually active midlife and older adult MSM (N = 566) from the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study Healthy Aging Substudy. Stratified by HIV serostatus, we used latent class analyses to identify CHP classes based on self-reported sociobehavioral and biobehavioral prevention strategies that participants and their male partners used in the prior 6 months. We identified three CHP classes among men living without HIV (MLWOH), including the following: high CHP overall (43.0%), high anal sex abstention (15.0%), and low prevention overall (42.0%). Among men living with HIV (MLWH), we identified four CHP classes, including the following: high CHP overall (20.9%), high CHP/low condom use (27.1%), high condom reliance (22.3%), and low prevention overall (29.7%). There were small differences by sociodemographic characteristics and sexual behavior practices between the classes; however, poppers use was often linked to being in high CHP groups. Our findings support that CHP is not one-size-fits-all for midlife and older adult MSM. There remains a need to scale up clinical providers' sexual health communication practices to assist midlife and older MSM incorporate prevention strategies, particularly biobehavioral prevention strategies that align with their patients' lived experiences.