Abstract
HIV is rising rapidly among Chinese men who have sex with men (MSM). Discussion of HIV status between sexual partners is potentially
a key prevention behavior. It is unclear if HIV-negative Chinese MSM talk about HIV and disclose their HIV status with sexual
partners. Understanding the correlates of disclosure among this population could provide insight into developing disclosure-based
interventions. We conducted a respondent driven sampling based study of 500 MSM in Beijing. A total of 332 men had a previous
HIV-negative test result and thus considered themselves to be HIV-negative and were included in our analysis of disclosure.
Equal numbers of these men reported talking about HIV and disclosing their HIV status to at least one sexual partner. MSM
who disclosed were more likely to be living with a main partner. No other demographic characteristics were associated with
disclosure in bivariate analysis. We also used data on up to three sexual partners per participant to examine disclosure on
the partnership level. Main partnerships, meeting partners at bars/clubs, sometimes using alcohol before sex in a partnership,
and usually having sex at home compared to other venues were associated with disclosure. Using generalized estimating equation
analysis to characterize individuals from their partnership data, we found only having at least one main partnership and knowing
people who were infected with HIV to be associated with a participant being a discloser. Interventions that wish to harness
discussion of HIV and HIV status among Chinese MSM will need to focus on moving these discussions towards having them with
casual partners.
a key prevention behavior. It is unclear if HIV-negative Chinese MSM talk about HIV and disclose their HIV status with sexual
partners. Understanding the correlates of disclosure among this population could provide insight into developing disclosure-based
interventions. We conducted a respondent driven sampling based study of 500 MSM in Beijing. A total of 332 men had a previous
HIV-negative test result and thus considered themselves to be HIV-negative and were included in our analysis of disclosure.
Equal numbers of these men reported talking about HIV and disclosing their HIV status to at least one sexual partner. MSM
who disclosed were more likely to be living with a main partner. No other demographic characteristics were associated with
disclosure in bivariate analysis. We also used data on up to three sexual partners per participant to examine disclosure on
the partnership level. Main partnerships, meeting partners at bars/clubs, sometimes using alcohol before sex in a partnership,
and usually having sex at home compared to other venues were associated with disclosure. Using generalized estimating equation
analysis to characterize individuals from their partnership data, we found only having at least one main partnership and knowing
people who were infected with HIV to be associated with a participant being a discloser. Interventions that wish to harness
discussion of HIV and HIV status among Chinese MSM will need to focus on moving these discussions towards having them with
casual partners.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Category Original Paper
- Pages 1-7
- DOI 10.1007/s10508-012-9944-4
- Authors
- Guiying Li, Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
- Hongyan Lu, Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
- Xuefeng Li, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Branch of Division of Virology and Immunology, State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Control and Prevention and National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 155 Changbai Road, Changping District, Beijing, 102206 People’s Republic of China
- Yanming Sun, Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
- Xiong He, Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
- Song Fan, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Branch of Division of Virology and Immunology, State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Control and Prevention and National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 155 Changbai Road, Changping District, Beijing, 102206 People’s Republic of China
- Willi McFarland, San Francisco Department of Public Health, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Yujiang Jia, Institute for Global Health and Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA
- H. F. Raymond, San Francisco Department of Public Health, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Yan Xiao, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Branch of Division of Virology and Immunology, State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Control and Prevention and National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 155 Changbai Road, Changping District, Beijing, 102206 People’s Republic of China
- Yuhua Ruan, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Branch of Division of Virology and Immunology, State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Control and Prevention and National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 155 Changbai Road, Changping District, Beijing, 102206 People’s Republic of China
- Yiming Shao, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Branch of Division of Virology and Immunology, State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Control and Prevention and National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 155 Changbai Road, Changping District, Beijing, 102206 People’s Republic of China
- Journal Archives of Sexual Behavior
- Online ISSN 1573-2800
- Print ISSN 0004-0002