HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University, 1051 Riverside Dr, New York, NY, 10032, USA.
Department of Psychology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA.
AIDS Behav. 2020 Sep;24(9):2732-2741. doi: 10.1007/s10461-020-02829-x.
HIV partner-testing (PT) may represent a unique and empowering HIV prevention strategy for groups that face structural and institutional barriers to HIV testing and care, including transgender women. We report on in-depth interviews (IDIs) with N = 10 transgender women who used HIV self-test kits for three months to screen potential sexual partners in a randomized controlled trial (iSUM; "I'll Show You Mine") that took place in New York City and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Participants were assigned to intervention (supplied with 10 self-test kits immediately) or control groups (received 6 test kits after 3 months). We conducted IDIs with the first N = 10 transgender women to enroll in the intervention group after three months in the study (after participants used kits with partners) to understand their experiences. Themes discussed in IDIs included: partners' reaction to HIV testing, participants' reactions to partners' test results or refusal to test, partners' own reaction to their test results, and decision-making around test use. Data were independently analyzed by two coders. Overwhelmingly, participants' experiences with PT was positive. Participants reported kits were convenient and acceptable to most partners. Transgender women felt that PT could pose additional risk for them; one woman experienced violence related to kit use. Furthermore, the availability of kits appeared to encourage participants and their partners to think about their HIV status and, in some cases, modify sexual behavior. Work suggests that HIV PT could be a viable risk-reduction strategy for transgender women.
艾滋病毒伴侣检测 (PT) 可能代表了一种独特且赋权的艾滋病毒预防策略，适用于那些面临结构性和制度性艾滋病毒检测和护理障碍的群体，包括跨性别女性。我们报告了在一项随机对照试验 (iSUM；“我将向你展示我的”) 中，对 10 名使用艾滋病毒自检试剂盒筛查潜在性伴侣的跨性别女性进行的深入访谈 (IDIs)。该试验在纽约市和波多黎各圣胡安进行。参与者被分配到干预组（立即提供 10 份自检试剂盒）或对照组（3 个月后收到 6 份测试包）。在研究进行三个月后，我们对干预组中首批 10 名入组的跨性别女性进行了 IDIs（在参与者与伴侣使用试剂盒后），以了解她们的经历。IDIs 中讨论的主题包括：伴侣对艾滋病毒检测的反应、参与者对伴侣检测结果或拒绝检测的反应、伴侣对自己检测结果的反应以及围绕检测使用的决策。数据由两名编码员独立分析。绝大多数情况下，参与者的 PT 体验是积极的。参与者报告说，试剂盒对大多数伴侣来说既方便又可接受。跨性别女性认为 PT 可能对她们构成额外的风险；一名女性因试剂盒使用而经历了暴力。此外，试剂盒的提供似乎鼓励了参与者及其伴侣思考他们的艾滋病毒状况，并在某些情况下改变性行为。研究表明，艾滋病毒 PT 可能是跨性别女性可行的降低风险策略。
