Evaluation on follow-up intervention program in men who have sex with men in Tianjin / 中华流行病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective: To evaluate the behavior intervention program on men who have sex with men (MSM) in Tianjin. Methods: From April 2013 to September 2017, MSM were enrolled from MSM gathering places and through mobile internet to establish an open prospective cohort. Interventions were conducted in every follow-up meeting, while the changes of behaviors and HIV infection and syphilis incidences in the MSM before and after intervention were compared. Results: A total of 1 822 MSM were interviewed at baseline survey, with 1 007 eligible MSM were enrolled in the cohort. A total of 39 new cases of HIV infection were reported, and the cumulative observation time on cohort follow-up was 2 216.96 person-year, with the HIV incidence rate as 1.76 per 100 person-years. Among them, 934 MSM were sero-negative for syphilis in baseline survey. A total of 100 new cases of syphilis were reported, and the cumulative observation time of cohort follow-up was 1 959.94 person-year, the syphilis incidence rate was 5.10 per 100 person-years. With health education and intervention conducted, the awareness rate of AIDS related knowledge for MSM increased. Though the rate of anal sex increased after intervention, the rate of condom use in anal sex increased, too. The rate of condom use decreased after receiving more than 3 interventions. Data from the multivariate GEE analysis indicated that protective factors might be as follows education level of college and above (aOR=0.81, 95%CI 0.68-0.98), awareness of AIDS related knowledge (aOR=0.52, 95%CI 0.36-0.75), ever receiving condom promotion and distribution in the past six months (aOR=0.60, 95%CI 0.49-0.74), being recruited from mobile internet (aOR=0.85, 95%CI 0.73-1.00) and times of cumulative intervention one time (aOR=0.55, 95%CI 0.45-0.66), two times (aOR=0.38, 95%CI 0.30-0.49), three times (aOR=0.26, 95%CI 0.20-0.35), four times and above (aOR=0.24, 95%CI 0.17-0.33). Diagnoses of STDs in the past six months (aOR=1.43, 95%CI 1.06-1.96), using rush-poppers (aOR=1.22, 95%CI 1.02-1.47) might be risk factors. Conclusions: After continuous behavior intervention, the incidence of HIV infection and syphilis were at a low level in the MSM cohort in Tianjin. Their awareness rate of AIDS related knowledge and the rate of condom use increased. But there are still many risk factors influencing the unprotected anal sex in MSM. We should continuously carry out behavioral intervention programs to prevent unprotected anal sex among MSM.