Citation

Chandler CJ, Bukowski LA, Matthews DD, Hawk ME, Markovic N, Egan JE, Stall RD. AIDS Behav. 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, 130 De Soto Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10461-019-02458-z

PMID

30887191

Abstract

Syndemic production theory has been used to explore HIV transmission risk or infections but has not been used to investigate prevention behavior, or with large samples of non-Whites. This analysis is the first to explore the impact of syndemic factors on previous six-month HIV screening behavior among US Black MSM. Data from Promoting Our Worth, Equality and Resilience (POWER) were analyzed from 3294 participants using syndemic variable counts and measures of interaction/synergy. Syndemic variables included: past three-month poly-drug use, depression, last year intimate partner violence, HIV risk and problematic binge drinking. BMSM reporting two syndemic factors were more likely to report screening (AOR = 1.37, 95% CI 1.04-1.80; p = 0.028) with no significant associations for three or more conditions. Measures of joint effect revealed that there were synergies among depression, problematic binge drinking and poly-drug use but these psychosocial factors cannot entirely explain testing patterns and excess disease burden among BMSM.

Language: en

Keywords

Black men who have sex with men; HIV; HIV screening; Psychosocial conditions; Syndemics