Voluntary outreach counselling and testing for HIV and STI among men who have sex with men in Antwerp.
Acta Clin Belg
; 67(3): 172-6, 2012.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-22897064
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
High risk settings for transmission of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STI) offer an opportunity for screening of difficult to reach risk groups.METHODS:
Free, anonymous counselling and testing for HIV, syphilis, Chlamydia and hepatitis B/C were offered to visitors in two selected gay venues in Antwerp, by a multidisciplinary team. Participants completed an anonymous questionnaire. The STI-test results were communicated by cell phone using standardised text messages.RESULTS:
In total, 137 MSM were tested. Facilitators of risky sexual behaviour (alcohol and drug use) were reported by 34 and 21%, respectively. Four men (3%) were newly diagnosed with HIV; 25 men (18%) had an active, transmittable STI. Infected MSM were significantly less often registered with a fixed general practitioner (GP).CONCLUSIONS:
Outreach testing in gay venues is a suitable method to detect MSM at risk for HIV/STI. Although the outreach approach is very labour intensive, it shows a high yield of new STI-diagnoses that are not detected in the regular health system.
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Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Enfermedades de Transmisión Sexual
/
Infecciones por VIH
/
Homosexualidad Masculina
/
Consejo
/
Pruebas Anónimas
Tipo de estudio:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Etiology_studies
Límite:
Adult
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
País/Región como asunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Acta Clin Belg
Año:
2012
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Bélgica