BACKGROUND

Men who have sex with men (MSM) account for most new HIV diagnoses in the US. Annual HIV testing is recommended for sexually active MSM if HIV status is negative or unknown. Our primary study aim was to determine annual HIV screening rates in primary care across multiple years for HIV-negative MSM to estimate compliance with guidelines. A secondary exploratory endpoint was to document rates for non-MSM in primary care.

METHODS

We conducted a three-year retrospective cohort study, analyzing data from electronic medical records of HIV-negative men aged 18 to 45 years in primary care at a large academic health system using inferential and logistic regression modeling.

RESULTS

Of 17,841 men, 730 (4.1%) indicated that they had a male partner during the study period. MSM were screened at higher rates annually than non-MSM (about 38% vs. 9%, p<0.001). Younger patients (p-value<0.001) and patients with an internal medicine primary care provider (p-value<0.001) were more likely to have an HIV test ordered in both groups. For all categories of race and self-reported illegal drug use, MSM patients had higher odds of HIV test orders than non-MSM patients. Race and drug use did not have a significant effect on HIV orders in the MSM group. Among non-MSM, Black patients had higher odds of being tested than both White and Asian patients regardless of drug use.

CONCLUSIONS

While MSM are screened for HIV at higher rates than non-MSM, overall screening rates remain lower than desired, particularly for older patients and patients with a family medicine or pediatric PCP. Targeted interventions to improve HIV screening rates for MSM in primary care are discussed.