Peer Case Management Promoting Advancement Along the HIV Care Continuum Among Black Men Who Have Sex with Men Living with HIV: Building Brothers Up.

Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) in the United States are at elevated risk for HIV relative to their heterosexual and/or non-BMSM counterparts, yet on average demonstrate suboptimal HIV care linkage and rates of HIV primary care retention. From October 2019 to December 2020, 69 adult (i.e., aged 18-65) BMSM enrolled in Building Brothers Up (2BU), a 6-session peer case management intervention delivered across 3 months and designed to improve retention in HIV primary care through to full viral suppression. Peer case management sessions included detailed assessment of participants' needs and barriers to treatment, which led to the development of a participant-centered treatment plan. All participants self-identified as Black, about three-quarters self-identified as gay (72.5%), and 46.4% reported an annual income of $5000 or less. A total of 69 participants enrolled in 2BU; however, multiply imputed chained equation logistic regressions were carried out on the final analytical data set (n = 40; 99 imputations) due to a large amount of COVID-19-related missing data. Although analyses of retention and achievement of viral suppression did not reach full significance, the probability of a Type-II hypothesis testing error was high, and viral load results (adjusted odds ratio = 1.56; 95% confidence interval = 0.94-2.60; p = 0.08) suggested that increased attendance to peer case management sessions may be associated with improved odds of achieving full viral suppression among BMSM. The significant impact of national race-related civil unrest and the COVID-19 pandemic on the target population during implementation of 2BU is underscored.

Age Is Associated With HIV Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Trans Women in Los Angeles County.

Little is known about how HIV risk varies among trans women of different ages. From January 2010 to February 2021, 2,242 trans women were assessed via outreach encounters consisting of health education and risk reduction information, and queries of recent sexual behaviors. Generalized linear models provide adjusted rates of engagement in condomless anal intercourse (CAI), in exchange sex, and CAI with exchange partners in the past 30 days for each year from age 18 to 60. Most participants identified as Hispanic/Latina (52%) and most were HIV negative (80%). Engagement in exchange sex remained prevalent from participants' early 20s through their mid-40s, though CAI with such partners never exceeded an average estimated prevalence of 15%. Condomless behaviors with non-exchange partners was more common, with at least 20% reporting engagement in non-exchange CAI regardless of age. The need for trans-specific sexual risk reduction interventions that take age into account is underscored.

Text Messaging Improves HIV Care Continuum Outcomes Among Young Adult Trans Women Living with HIV: Text Me, Girl!

Young adult trans women living with HIV in the US exhibit suboptimal advancement through the HIV Care Continuum relative to national averages. From December 2016 through May 2018, 134 young adult trans women living with HIV enrolled in Text Me, Girl!, a theory-based, trans-specific text-messaging intervention designed to improve HIV Care Continuum outcomes. Participants (N = 130) averaged 29.5 years, were predominantly Latinx (43%) or African American/Black (40%). Clustered logistic and ordinal logistic multivariable models (n = 105; 366 observations) indicate that through 18-month follow-up, increased exposure to the text-messaging intervention was associated with significant (p < 0.05) increased retention to HIV care (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.33) and biomarker-confirmed viral suppression (aOR 1.51); retention in the intervention was associated with significantly increased likelihood of ART uptake (aOR 2.95) and "excellent" ART adherence (aOR 10.44). Text Me, Girl! offers promising evidence that a unidirectional, automated text-messaging intervention can improve HIV care outcomes among young adult trans women living with HIV.

Social Networks and Exchange Sex among Transgender Women.

Transgender women are more likely to exchange sex than cisgender individuals. This study investigated how social networks were associated with exchange sex among transgender women in Los Angeles County. From July 2015 to September 2016, transgender women (N = 271; "egos") reported their sexual and substance use behaviors and perceptions of the same behaviors among their peers (N = 2,619; "alters"). Clustered logistic and negative binomial regressions were used to model odds of exchange sex and number of exchange sex partners in the past 6 months, respectively. Transgender women who perceived that any of their peers were engaged in exchange sex were approximately four times more likely to exchange sex themselves and reported three times as many exchange sex partners as those who did not perceive any peers engaged in exchange sex. Perceived ecstasy use among peers was associated with higher odds of exchange sex and more exchange sex partners, whereas perceived marijuana use among peers was associated with lower odds of exchange sex and fewer exchange sex partners. Peer behaviors were strongly associated with both transgender women's likelihood and rate of engagement in exchange sex. Risk reduction interventions with transgender women should attend to network dynamics that are often overlooked in existing programs.

A Novel Adaptation of Peer Health Navigation and Contingency Management for Advancement Along the HIV Care Continuum Among Transgender Women of Color.

Transgender women, particularly racial/ethnic minority transgender women, evidence disproportionately high rates of untreated HIV infection and disproportionately low rates of HIV viral suppression. The Alexis Project was a combined peer health navigation (PHN) and contingency management (CM) intervention that targeted HIV milestones associated with advancement along the HIV care continuum. From February 2014 through August 2016, 139 transgender women of color (TWOC) enrolled and received unlimited PHN sessions and an escalating CM rewards schedule for confirmed achievement of both behavioral (e.g., HIV care visits) and biomedical (e.g., viral load reductions and achieved/sustained viral suppression) HIV milestones. Results demonstrated that increased attendance to PHN sessions was associated with significant achievement of both behavioral (coef. range 0.12-0.38) and biomedical (coef. = 0.10) HIV milestones (all p ≤ 0.01); 85% were linked to HIV care, and 83% who enrolled detectable and achieved the minimum 1 log viral load reduction advanced to full viral suppression. The combined PHN and CM intervention successfully promoted advancement along the HIV Care Continuum, with particularly robust effects for behavioral HIV milestones.

Associations Between Social Support and Social Media Use Among Young Adult Cisgender MSM and Transgender Women Living With HIV.

Social media platforms offer the opportunity to develop online social networks. Use of these platforms has been particularly attractive to younger sexual and gender minority individuals as well as those living with HIV. This cross-sectional study examined the perceived level of social support and associations with social media use among youth and young adult cisgender men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender (trans) women living with HIV and examined these associations by gender identity. The study drew from baseline data collected from 612 cisgender MSM and 162 trans women enrolling in one of 10 demonstration sites that were part of a Health Resources and Services Administration Special Projects of National Significance initiative. The individual projects were designed to evaluate the potential for social media/mobile technology-based interventions to improve retention in care and HIV health outcomes. The data used in this study came from baseline surveys completed when participants enrolled in a site between October 2016 and May 2018. Results demonstrated that a significantly greater proportion of MSM than trans women participants reported the use of social media platforms (e.g., Facebook: MSM = 86%, trans women = 62%; Instagram: MSM = 65%, trans women = 35%). Furthermore, increased social media use improved perceptions of social support only among MSM participants (direct adjusted OR = 1.49) and not trans women participants (gender identity interaction term adjusted OR = 0.64). These results revealed that MSM participants perceived greater social benefit from the use of social media platforms than trans women, which could be a result of generalized online transphobia experienced by trans women. More nuanced data on various social media platforms, that is, anonymous versus profile-based, and group differences, are needed to better understand how social media platforms can be best utilized to optimize health care outcomes among sexual and gender minority youth and young adults living with HIV.

Recruiting, Linking, and Retaining High-risk Transgender Women into HIV Prevention and Care Services: An Overview of Barriers, Strategies, and Lessons Learned.

Despite disproportionately high HIV prevalence rates and high risk for HIV acquisition and transmission, trans women in the United States are less likely than other high-risk populations to be aware of their HIV status or to perceive HIV infection as a serious health threat. Furthermore, concurrently high rates of unstable housing, few legal employment opportunities, lack of social support, and distrust of social service providers limit trans women's interest or ability to be recruited by, retained within, or linked into HIV prevention and care services. This article provides an overview of the barriers that prevent many high-risk trans women from being recruited, linked, and retained within HIV prevention and care services as well as accessing HIV testing services, and discusses several strategies for overcoming these barriers. Best practices in working with high-risk trans women include hiring trans women indigenous to the local trans communities, designing culturally specific recruitment and retention strategies including the creation of living "community maps" to ensure successful community outreach, the construction of a trans women-specific CAB to create dialogue with community stakeholders including consumers, and extensive cultural sensitivity training for staff and community collaborators to sensitize them to the specific needs of high-risk trans women participants.

Housing status and HIV risk behaviors among transgender women in Los Angeles.

Due to social stigma, lack of social support, and minimal legal employment opportunities, transgender women (transwomen) face elevated rates of unstable housing. This study examined the association between housing status and HIV risk behaviors among 517 transwomen encountered through street outreach. Seven variables (including sociodemographics, HIV status, housing status, and sexual partner type) were used to estimate partial associations during multivariable analyses; housing status was coded trichotomously (housed, marginally housed, and homeless) for these analyses. Results demonstrated that homeless and marginally housed transwomen engaged in significantly higher rates of illicit drug use than housed transwomen; however, marginally housed and housed transwomen engaged in significantly higher rates of illegal hormone injections than homeless transwomen. Rates of sex work were high in the sample as a whole, though sex with an exchange partner was most common among the marginally housed transwomen. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that unstable housing moderated the association between HIV status and engagement in unprotected serodiscordant anal intercourse. The marginally housed transwomen exhibited the greatest risk profile for HIV acquisition or transmission.

Using novel methods to examine stress among HIV-positive African American men who have sex with men and women.

Biomarker composites (BCs) that objectively quantify psychosocial stress independent of self report could help to identify those at greatest risk for negative health outcomes and elucidate mechanisms of stress-related processes. Here, BCs are examined in the context of existing disease progression among HIV-positive African American men who have sex with men and women (MSMW) with high stress histories, including childhood sexual abuse. Participants (N = 99) collected 12-h overnight and morning urine samples for assay of cortisol and catecholamines (primary BC) and neopterin (an indicator of HIV disease progression). Data on cumulative psychosocial trauma history (severity, types, frequency, age at first incident), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, sexual risk behaviors, and a secondary BC consisting of routine health indicators (heart rate, blood pressure, body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio) were also collected. Lifetime trauma exposure was highly pervasive and significantly greater among those meeting a standard cutoff for PTSD caseness (24 %). After controlling for HIV factors (neopterin levels and years with disease), PTSD was a significant (p < .05) predictor of the primary, but not secondary BC. Those with PTSD also had significantly more sexual partners, sex without a condom, and exchange sex for money or drugs than those without PTSD. Specific trauma characteristics predicted PTSD severity and caseness independently and uniquely in regression models (p's < .05-.001). A primary BC appears sensitive to cumulative trauma burden and PTSD in HIV-positive African American MSMW, providing support for the use of BCs to quantify psychosocial stress and inform novel methods for examining mechanisms of stress influenced health behaviors and disease outcomes in at-risk populations.

Image versus Health: The Role of Perceptions of Masculinity on Sexual Risk Behaviors among HIV-Positive African American Men who have Sex with Men and Women.

BACKGROUND: HIV prevention has rarely explored the impact of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) across health domains among African American men who have sex with men and women (MSMW). Early sexual experiences may influence perceptions of gender roles, sexual identity, and risks for HIV/AIDS. The attribute of masculinity is commonly associated with strength and success. However, a legacy of racism and oppression may pose challenges for African American men in achieving gender-based milestones. Instead, proxies for success may include masculinity constructs with hypersexual posturing and prowess that contradict sexual health messages. METHODS: Two groups, each meeting twice for 90-minutes, of HIV-positive African American MSMW participated in discussions focusing on masculinity and sexual experiences. Participants were bisexual HIV-positive African American men who engaged in unprotected sex and had histories of CSA. Discussions were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using consensual qualitative research and a constant comparison qualitative method. RESULTS: Participant mean age was 40.5 years (n=16). Majority had a high school education (69%), half were unemployed, and almost two-thirds earned less than $20,000 annually. Three themes, each with two subthemes, emerged that described the sociocultural context for engaging in high-risk sexual behaviors, and included: 1) the importance of inhabiting a "traditional" masculine gender role with: a) general and b) sexual masculine traits; 2) the influence of conceptions of masculinity on sexual identity with the associations: a) between being gay and being effeminate and b) between being gay and being HIV-positive, and; 3) CSA experiences with: a) appraisal of CSA and b) early sexual experiences as rites of passage. CONCLUSION: Attempts to be masculine may contribute to high-risk sexual behaviors. Research needs to explore how early sexual experiences shape perceptions of masculinity and masculinity's influence on receiving health messages for African American MSMW who may prioritize a specific image over sexual risk reduction.