Exploring repeat HIV testing among men who have sex with men in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, South Africa
SOURCE: AIDS Care
OUTPUT TYPE: Journal Article
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2014
TITLE AUTHOR(S): A.J.Siegler, P.S.Sullivan, A.De Voux, N.Phaswana-Mafuya, L-G.Bekker, S.D.Baral, K.Winskell, Z.Kose, A.L.Wirtz, B.Brown, R.Stephenson
KEYWORDS: CAPE TOWN, HIV TESTING AND COUNSELLING (HTC), HIV/AIDS, HOMOSEXUALITY, MEN, PORT ELIZABETH, RISK BEHAVIOUR, SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR
DEPARTMENT: Public Health, Societies and Belonging (HSC)
Print: HSRC Library: shelf number 8337
HANDLE: 20.500.11910/2278
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/2278
OUTPUT TYPE: Journal Article
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2014
TITLE AUTHOR(S): A.J.Siegler, P.S.Sullivan, A.De Voux, N.Phaswana-Mafuya, L-G.Bekker, S.D.Baral, K.Winskell, Z.Kose, A.L.Wirtz, B.Brown, R.Stephenson
KEYWORDS: CAPE TOWN, HIV TESTING AND COUNSELLING (HTC), HIV/AIDS, HOMOSEXUALITY, MEN, PORT ELIZABETH, RISK BEHAVIOUR, SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR
DEPARTMENT: Public Health, Societies and Belonging (HSC)
Print: HSRC Library: shelf number 8337
HANDLE: 20.500.11910/2278
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/2278
If you would like to obtain a copy of this Research Output, please contact Hanlie Baudin at researchoutputs@hsrc.ac.za.
Abstract
Despite the high prevalence of HIV among men who have sex with men (MSM) and the general adult population in South Africa, there is little data regarding the extent to which MSM seek repeat testing for HIV. This study explores reported histories of HIV testing, and the rationales for test seeking, among a purposive sample of 34 MSM in two urban areas of South Africa. MSM participated in activity-based in-depth interviews that included a timeline element to facilitate discussion. Repeat HIV testing was limited among participants, with three-quarters having two or fewer lifetime HIV tests, and over one-third of the sample having one or fewer lifetime tests. For most repeat testers, the time gap between their HIV tests was greater than the one-year interval recommended by national guidelines. Analysis of the reasons for seeking HIV testing revealed several types of rationale. The reasons for a first HIV test were frequently onetime occurrences, such as a requirement prior to circumcision, or motivations likely satisfied by a single HIV test. For MSM who reported repeat testing at more timely intervals, the most common rationale was seeking test results with a sex partner. Results indicate a need to shift HIV test promotion messaging and programming for MSM in South Africa away from a one-off model to one that frames HIV testing as a repeated, routine health maintenance behavior.-
Related Research Outputs:
- High prevalence of HIV and low awareness of HIV infection among young MSM and transgender women in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, South Africa
- PrEP interest, eligibility and initiation by MSM and transwomen in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, South Africa
- Stigma and discrimination experiences of HIV-positive men who have sex with men in Cape Town, South Africa
- Stigma and discrimination experiences of HIV positive men who have sex with men (MSM) and heterosexual men in Cape Town, South Africa
- HIV testing is associated with increased knowledge and reductions in sexual risk behaviours among men in Cape Town, South Africa
- The South African Marang men's project: HIV bio-behavioural surveys conducted among men who have sex with men in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg using respondent driven sampling
- A social network typology and sexual risk-taking among men who have sex with men in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, South Africa
- Disclosure decisions and HIV transmission risk behaviour of HIV positive men who have sex with men (MSM) in Cape Town, South Africa
- HIV testing and self-reported HIV status in South African men who have sex with men: results from a community-based survey
- Researching MSM in South Africa: some preliminary notes from the frontlines of a hidden epidemic
- The Johannesburg/eThewkini Men's Study (JEMS): a rapid assessment of the HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men (MSM) in South Africa: technical report
- The fallacy of intimacy: sexual risk behaviour and beliefs about trust and condom use among men who have sex with men in South Africa
- HIV prevalence and risk practices among men who have sex with men in two South African cities
- You became afraid to tell them that you are gay: health service utilization by men who have sex with men in South African cities
- Social vulnerability and HIV testing among South African men who have sex with men
- Attitudes towards condom use may explain why older black South African msm engage in unprotected insertive anal sex more frequently
- Sexual violence and HIV risk among black men who have sex with men in South African townships
- Communicating HIV status in sexual interactions: assessing social cognitive constructs, situational factors, and individual characteristics among South African MSM
- After-nine, 429, he-she, stabane, and gay, bisexual and other 'men sleeping with men': diversity in black South African MSM identities and implications for HIV prevention
- "Gays have money": the gendered nature and meanings of transactional sex among black men who have sex with men in South Africa