HIV Testing Frequency Among Men Who Have Sex With Men Attending Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinics: Implications for HIV Prevention and Surveillance

In the current study, researchers sought to describe trends in HIV testing occurrence and frequency among men who have sex with men (MSM) seeking treatment at four STD clinics and to define factors associated with HIV testing frequency and positivity.

From 2002 to 2006, routine clinical encounters during 57,131 visits by MSM to STD clinics in four cities (Seattle-King County, San Francisco, Denver, and District of Columbia) were examined.

During the study period, a city-specific median of 69.1 percent of presumptive HIV-negative MSM were tested for the virus, of which, a median of 86.7 percent had previously tested (4.5 percent unknown) and a median of 3.9 percent were newly diagnosed with HIV. Between 2002 and 2006, the median percentage of tested MSM who reported no previous HIV testing dropped from 9.4 percent to 5.4 percent (P=0.01) and the city-specific median intertest interval decreased from 302 to 243 days (P=0.03). Among MSM newly diagnosed with HIV, the median intertest interval declined from 531 days in 2002 to 287 days in 2006 (P=0.001). Predictors of newly diagnosed HIV infection included: younger age, longer intertest interval, black or Hispanic race/ ethnicity, clinic in San Francisco, and concurrent bacterial STD diagnosis.

"In MSM seen at four STD clinics, the percentage of never previously HIV tested is decreasing and MSM are testing more frequently," the researchers concluded.

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