Disease Elimination Program, Burnet Institute, GPO Box 2284, Melbourne, VIC, 3001, Australia.
Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
AIDS Behav. 2018 Aug;22(8):2426-2434. doi: 10.1007/s10461-017-2022-0.
Men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women (TW) are a priority population for HIV prevention in Myanmar but report sub-optimal HIV testing frequency. Previous studies have shown that peer involvement in HIV testing can normalize stigmatized sexualities and reduce barriers to testing. We explored the acceptability of peer-delivered HIV testing among 425 undiagnosed MSM and TW in Yangon and Mandalay. An overwhelming majority of participants (86%) reported being 'comfortable/very comfortable' with peer-delivered HIV testing. Logistic regression identified reporting sexual identity as Apone [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 3.8; 95% CI 1.2-11.7], recent HIV testing (aOR 3.1; 95% CI 1.4-6.5), reporting a high likelihood of HIV acquisition (aOR 3.6; 95% CI 1.7-7.6), and reporting ≥ 5 casual partners in the past 3 months (aOR 0.2; 95% CI 0.1-0.6) as associated with peer-delivered HIV testing acceptability. Given ongoing HIV vulnerability among MSM and TW in Myanmar, peer-delivered testing may offer prevention benefits by increasing testing rates and identifying undiagnosed infection earlier.
男男性行为者(MSM)和跨性别女性(TW)是缅甸艾滋病毒预防的重点人群,但报告的艾滋病毒检测频率不理想。先前的研究表明,同伴参与艾滋病毒检测可以使被污名化的性行为正常化,并减少检测障碍。我们在仰光和曼德勒探索了 425 名未确诊的 MSM 和 TW 对同伴提供的艾滋病毒检测的接受程度。绝大多数参与者(86%)报告说对同伴提供的艾滋病毒检测“感到舒适/非常舒适”。逻辑回归确定报告性身份为 Apone(调整后的优势比[aOR]3.8;95%置信区间[CI]1.2-11.7)、最近进行过艾滋病毒检测(aOR 3.1;95% CI 1.4-6.5)、报告有很高的艾滋病毒感染可能性(aOR 3.6;95% CI 1.7-7.6)和报告过去 3 个月内有≥5 个性伴侣(aOR 0.2;95% CI 0.1-0.6)与同伴提供的艾滋病毒检测接受度相关。鉴于缅甸 MSM 和 TW 持续存在艾滋病毒易感性,同伴提供的检测可能通过提高检测率和更早发现未确诊的感染,提供预防效益。