HIV incidence among men who have sex with men in mainland China: a systematic review protocol.

BACKGROUND: Men who have sex with men (MSM) are disproportionately affected by HIV in China. Globally, younger MSM are at higher risk for incident HIV infections, but there has been substantial variation in the estimates of age-stratified HIV incidence among MSM in mainland China, potentially due to regional differences in the nature of the epidemic. Given the need for quality epidemiological data to meet the global goal of ending new HIV infections by 2030, this systematic review and meta-analysis aims to determine age-stratified HIV incidence in mainland China, including consideration by geographic region and time. METHODS: This review will include longitudinal studies, cross-sectional surveys, and surveillance reports among MSM in mainland China that have reported HIV incidence. We will search studies and reports published from January 1, 2003, to April 30, 2020, in both English and Chinese language literature databases. For each study considered, two reviewers will independently screen, determine eligibility, and extract relevant data, with discrepancies resolved by consensus of a third reviewer. The methodological quality of included studies will be assessed by the Quality Assessment Tool for Systematic Reviews of Observational Studies Score (QATSO). We will develop age-stratified estimates of HIV incidence with geographic variations and temporal trends. Heterogeneity will be examined using statistical techniques appropriate to the dataset. For subgroup analyses, we will conduct mixed-effects meta-analysis models. DISCUSSION: This review will contribute to a better understanding of the HIV epidemic among MSM in mainland China by providing age-stratified estimates of HIV incidence with a portrayal of geographic and temporal variations. Findings will reflect epidemic dynamics, informing local and national intervention programs and policies for HIV prevention, and providing estimation data to inform future research among MSM in China. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO ID 154834.

Qualitative research on factors of HIV testing among men who have sex with men in China based on Blued / 中华预防医学杂志

Objective@#To understand the cognition and attitudes of men who have sex with men (MSM) towards HIV testing and explore in-depth reasons preventing them from testing.@*Methods@#The function of "opinion" in Blued, a gay geo-social networking application (GSN), was adopted to collect qualitative data of ideas and attitudes towards HIV testing of the users between December 2017 and January 2018. The data was analyzed based on grounded theory approach.@*Results@#28 269 Blued users participated in the activity and 1 977 posted comments. Four key themes were identified, i.e. no/low risk of contracting HIV, stigmatization of HIV testing, long-term relationship and conventional impediments of HIV testing.@*Conclusion@#The cognition and attitudes of the target population derived from the analysis of "opinion" function in Blued, such as the stigmatization of the behavior of HIV testing influencing the attitude of HIV testing, could help researchers build a more accurate detection and promotion strategy instead of a very general intervention on the public.

Risk of HIV infection and its factors among men who have sex with men: a geosocial networking application-based survey in Beijing of China, 2017 / 中华预防医学杂志

Objective@#To assess risk of HIV infection and its risk factors among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Beijing, China.@*Methods@#We conducted a cross-sectional online survey in October, 2017. Inclusion criteria of participants were: aged 18 year or more; resided in Beijing; conducted homosexual activities in past six months; self-reported HIV status as negative or unclear. Demographic information, HIV test history, social media use, and high-risk sexual behaviors were collected by a self-reporting questionnaire, and a HIV risk assessment tool was used to assess HIV risk of MSM, 5 388 particpants were finally enrolled in the study. Logistic regression model was used to analyze factors associated with risk of HIV infection.@*Results@#Of the total 5 388 participants, most were 18-29 years old (64.35%), and the proportion of medium and high HIV risk score was 40.36%. The odds of medium and high HIV risk score among MSM who logged onto the app 1-20 times per week and>20 times per week were higher comparing with those who logged onto the app<1 time per week (OR=1.22, 95%CI: 1.02-1.46; OR=1.69, 95%CI: 1.38-2.06, respectively); MSM who completed college or higher education had lower probability of medium and high HIV infection risk, comparing with those who only had high school education level (OR=1.25, 95%CI:1.09-1.43) or junior or below education level (OR: 1.27, 95%CI: 1.05-1.53); MSM who did not conduct HIV test in past year had lower risk of medium and high HIV infection risk comparing with MSM who conducted HIV test in past year (OR=0.87, 95%CI: 0.77-0.99), and those who reported their HIV infection status unclear had higher probability of medium and high HIV infection risk than MSM who reported their HIV infection status negative (OR: 1.63, 95%CI: 1.44-1.86).@*Conclusion@#The proportion of MSM who were in medium and high HIV infection risk score was high in Beijing. Lower level of education, high frequency of social media use, conducted HIV test in past year, and unclear of their own HIV infection status were associated with medium and high level of HIV infection risk.

The situation and associated factors of facility-based HIV testing among men who sex with men in Beijing / 中华预防医学杂志

Objective@#To understand the prevalence of facility-based HIV testing and its associated factors among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Beijing city.@*Methods@#An application-based cross-sectional survey was employed to understand HIV site test situation and associated factors. The survey was carried out from May 14th to 21st, 2016. Users of a smart phone application for gay dating were recruited and those eligible for this survey were investigated with an online self-administered questionnaire. Information of demographics, sexual behaviors, facility-based HIV testing history and recreational drug abuses were collected. The multivariate logistic regression was used to make comparison among different groups and assess associated factors.@*Results@#A total of 7 494 participants were enrolled in the survey with mean age of (28.81 ± 7.38) years, 87.14% (6 530/7 494) sought sexual partners through internet. The proportion of facility-based HIV testing in 1 year was 42.55% (3 189/7 494), MSM who were 25-29 years had higher proportion of facility-based HIV testing in 1 year, the proportion was 45.56%(1 104/2 423). Among MSM who could insist in using condom during anal sex (50.46% (1 539/3 050)), the proportion of HIV site testing in 1 year was higher. The MSM who reported seeking healthcare for symptoms of a sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the past year or ever using recreational drug had higher proportion of facility-based HIV testing, the proportions were 56.81% (409/720) and 52.00% (1 340/4 917), respectively. Compared with alone cohabitation, cohabitating was associated with decreased odds of HIV facility-based testing in past 1 year(odds ratio (OR)= 0.79, P<0.001). Compared with homosexual sexual orientation, bisexual sexual orientation was associated with decreased odds of facility-based HIV testing (OR=0.83, P=0.004). With the increasing of number of male anal sex partners, the odds of HIV facility-based testing was increasing (OR=1.31, P<0.001) But with the decreasing of the frequency of condom using with male anal sex partners, the odds of facility-based HIV testing was decreasing (OR=0.85, P=0.014). Using recreational drugs (OR=1.36, P<0.001) and seeking healthcare for symptoms of a STI in the past 1 year (OR=1.73, P<0.001) were associated with decreased odds of HIV site testing.@*Conclusion@#MSM in Beijing had lower proportion of facility-based HIV testing in past 1 year. Multiple anal sex partners, using recreational drugs, seeking healthcare for symptoms of a STI in the past year, cohabitating, bisexual sexual orientation, and lower frequency of condom using with male anal sex partners were associated with the odds of HIV facility-based testing in past 1 year.

Syphilis incidence and its risk factors in a cohort of young men who have sex with men / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVES</b>To investigate the incidence of syphilis infection and to determine the risk factors related to syphilis infection among young men who had sex with men (YMSM), which were documented for developing effective intervention to prevent sexually transmitted diseases among YMSM.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A cohort study was conducted in 8 cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Kunming,Guiyang, Chongqing, Chengdu, Urumqi and Nanning) from May to December, 2009. A total of 1 037 syphilis-negative YMSM aged 18-25 were enrolled in the cohort and the two follow-up surveys were carried out every six months. The contents of study included sociodemographic characteristics, HIV-related knowledge, sexual behavior and condom use in the 6 months prior to survey. All participants were tested for syphilis with whole blood specimens. Chi-square test was used to compare demographic characteristics of participants in baseline with those of two follow-up, and Cox regression analysis was used to identify risk factors associated with syphilis infection.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The rates of participants in 6, 12 months follow-up surveys was 79.85% (828/1 037) and 82.16% (852/1 037) respectively.39 syphilis seroconversions were found in the 12 months follow-up survey. Cumulative observed person-years during follow-up time was 1 106.67. The syphilis incidence rate was 3.5%. The Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that the education of senior high school (senior high school vs some college or higher, RR = 2.19, 95% CI:1.21-3.98), bisexual orientation (bisexual orientation vs homosexual orientation, RR = 2.19, 95% CI:1.21-3.97), score of HIV/AIDS knowledge <8 (score of HIV/AIDS knowledge <8 vs knowledge = 8, RR = 2.39, 95%CI:1.35-4.21), had two and more sexual partners and inconsistent condom use in the past 6 months (inconsistent condom use vs consistent condom use, RR = 3.10, 95% CI:1.39-6.91) were significantly associated with syphilis seroconversion in the 12-month period.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The syphilis incidence was high and risk behaviors were common among YMSM of China.</p>

A review of studies on sero-sorting among HIV positive men who have sex with men / 中国艾滋病性病

This article reviews studies regarding "sero-sorting" among MSM living with HIV/AIDS,for the purpose of analyzing its positive impact on reducing HIV incidence and promoting HIV testing and sero-status disclosure to sex partners. Contradictive issues in terms of implementing "sero-sorting" are also discussed in this article to provide some information for further conducting MSM related interventions in China.