TY - JOUR
T1 - Safe Spaces 4 Sexual Health
T2 - A Status-Neutral, Mobile Van, HIV/STI Testing Intervention Using Online Outreach to Reach MSM at High Risk for HIV Acquisition or Transmission
AU - Fields, Errol L.
AU - Thornton, Nicole
AU - Huettner, Steven
AU - Schumacher, Christina
AU - Barrow, Genevieve
AU - Greenbaum, Adena
AU - Jennings, Jacky M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022/7/1
Y1 - 2022/7/1
N2 - Background:Black men who have sex with men (MSM) carry the greatest burden of new HIV diagnoses in the United States. Ending the HIV epidemic requires strategic, culturally specific approaches to target factors contributing to persistent HIV disparities.Setting:Safe Spaces 4 Sexual Health (SS4SH), a community-informed HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing strategy combining mobile van testing with online outreach, was implemented over a 14-month period from 2018 to 2019 in Baltimore, MD.Methods:We evaluated the reach of MSM at high risk with high acquisition or transmission risk by SS4SH mobile van combined with online outreach as compared with the Baltimore City Health Department's venue-based mobile van (with no online outreach) operating during the same period based on the following HIV/STI testing outcome measures: (1) number of MSM HIV or STI tested, (2) new HIV diagnosis rate, (3) percent with new syphilis diagnosis, (4) percent at high risk for HIV acquisition, and (5) percent people living with HIV at high risk for transmission.Results:Over a 14-month period, SS4SH HIV/STI tested 151 MSM. Of these, 74% were Black and the mean age was 34 (SD = 10, range = 19-68). Seven percent (10/148) were new HIV diagnoses, and 10% (13/130) were diagnosed with syphilis. The Baltimore City Health Department's venue-based mobile van strategy yielded 53% (231) more MSM (71% Black, mean age 38, SD = 14, range = 15-74), but the HIV/syphilis positivity rate was significantly lower: 0.5% new HIV diagnosis rate (P < 0.001) and 0.5% with syphilis diagnosis (P < 0.001).Conclusions:Our findings suggest SS4SH combing online outreach with mobile van testing may be more effective at reaching high-risk Black MSM than venue-based mobile testing.
AB - Background:Black men who have sex with men (MSM) carry the greatest burden of new HIV diagnoses in the United States. Ending the HIV epidemic requires strategic, culturally specific approaches to target factors contributing to persistent HIV disparities.Setting:Safe Spaces 4 Sexual Health (SS4SH), a community-informed HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing strategy combining mobile van testing with online outreach, was implemented over a 14-month period from 2018 to 2019 in Baltimore, MD.Methods:We evaluated the reach of MSM at high risk with high acquisition or transmission risk by SS4SH mobile van combined with online outreach as compared with the Baltimore City Health Department's venue-based mobile van (with no online outreach) operating during the same period based on the following HIV/STI testing outcome measures: (1) number of MSM HIV or STI tested, (2) new HIV diagnosis rate, (3) percent with new syphilis diagnosis, (4) percent at high risk for HIV acquisition, and (5) percent people living with HIV at high risk for transmission.Results:Over a 14-month period, SS4SH HIV/STI tested 151 MSM. Of these, 74% were Black and the mean age was 34 (SD = 10, range = 19-68). Seven percent (10/148) were new HIV diagnoses, and 10% (13/130) were diagnosed with syphilis. The Baltimore City Health Department's venue-based mobile van strategy yielded 53% (231) more MSM (71% Black, mean age 38, SD = 14, range = 15-74), but the HIV/syphilis positivity rate was significantly lower: 0.5% new HIV diagnosis rate (P < 0.001) and 0.5% with syphilis diagnosis (P < 0.001).Conclusions:Our findings suggest SS4SH combing online outreach with mobile van testing may be more effective at reaching high-risk Black MSM than venue-based mobile testing.
KW - Black/African American
KW - MSM
KW - mobile HIV testing
KW - online
KW - racial disparities
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U2 - 10.1097/QAI.0000000000002968
DO - 10.1097/QAI.0000000000002968
M3 - Article
C2 - 35703759
AN - SCOPUS:85132453295
SN - 1525-4135
VL - 90
SP - S84-S89
JO - Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes
JF - Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes
ER -