HIV Testing and HIV Knowledge Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Natal, Northeast Brazil

Overview

Journal Braz J Infect Dis

Specialty Infectious Diseases

Date 2019 Feb 12

PMID 30742795

Citations 4

Authors

Monica Baumgardt Bay

Marise Reis de Freitas

Marcia Cavalcante Vinhas Lucas

Elizabeth Cristina Fagundes de Souza

Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Men who have sex with men (MSM) account for the highest prevalence of HIV in Brazil. HIV testing allows to implement preventive measures, reduces transmission, morbidity, and mortality.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study to evaluate HIV testing during lifetime, factors associated with the decision to test, knowledge about HIV transmission, and use of condoms between MSM from the city of Natal, northeast Brazil.

Results: Out of 99 participants, 62.6% had been tested for HIV during lifetime, 46.2% in the last year. The most frequent reported reason to be tested for HIV infection was curiosity (35.5%). Correct knowledge about HIV was observed in only 9.2% of participants. In multivariate analysis, age (PR 0.95; 95%CI, 0.91-0.99; p=0.041) and previous syphilis test (PR 4.21; 95%CI, 1.52-11.70; p=0.006) were associated with HIV testing.

Conclusions: The frequency of HIV testing among MSM from Natal is rather low, especially in younger MSM, and knowledge about HIV transmission is inappropriate.

Citing Articles

Young men's barriers to and facilitators of utilising HIV-testing services in South Africa.

Ndlovu S, Ross A, Ndirangu J South Afr J HIV Med. 2025; 26(1):1631.

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Knowledge of HIV and/or AIDS and HIV testing services among young men in South Africa.

Ndlovu S, Ross A, Ndirangu J Afr J Prim Health Care Fam Med. 2023; 15(1):e1-e10.

PMID: 37526557 PMC: 10476458. DOI: 10.4102/phcfm.v15i1.3796.

Development and Evaluation of Short-Form Measures of the HIV/AIDS Knowledge Assessment Tool Among Sexual and Gender Minorities in Brazil: Cross-sectional Study.

Ferreira R, Torres T, Ceccato M, Bezerra D, Thombs B, Luz P JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2022; 8(3):e30676.

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Factors associated with past HIV testing among men who have sex with men attending university in China: a cross-sectional study.

Ye R, Liu C, Tan S, Li J, Simoni J, Turner D Sex Health. 2021; 18(1):58-63.

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Acceptability of HIV self-testing is low among men who have sex with men who have not tested for HIV: a study with respondent-driven sampling in Brazil.

Magno L, Leal A, Knauth D, Dourado I, Crosland Guimaraes M, Santana E BMC Infect Dis. 2020; 20(1):865.

PMID: 33213389 PMC: 7678175. DOI: 10.1186/s12879-020-05589-0.

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