Changes in STI and HIV testing and testing need among men who have sex with men during the UK's COVID-19 pandemic response.
Sex Transm Infect
; 2022 Jul 21.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2313246
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
We examined the impact of COVID-19-related restrictions on sexual behaviours, STI and HIV testing and testing need among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the UK.METHODS:
We used social media and dating applications to recruit to three cross-sectional surveys (S1-S3) during the UK's pandemic response (S1 23 June-14 July 2020; S2 23 November-12 December 2020; S3 23 March-14 April 2021). Surveys included lookback periods of around 3-4 months (P1-P3, respectively). Eligible participants were UK resident men (cisgender/transgender) and gender-diverse people assigned male at birth (low numbers of trans and gender-diverse participants meant restricting these analyses to cisgender men), aged ≥16 years who reported sex with men (cisgender/transgender) in the last year (S1 N=1950; S2 N=1463; S3 N=1487). Outcomes were recent STI/HIV testing and unmet testing need (new male and/or multiple condomless anal sex partners without a recent STI/HIV test). Crude and adjusted associations with each outcome were assessed using logistic regression.RESULTS:
Participants' sociodemographic characteristics were similar across surveys. The proportion reporting a recent STI and/or HIV test increased between P1 and P2 (25.0% to 37.2% (p<0.001) and 29.7% to 39.4% (p<0.001), respectively), then stabilised in P3 (40.5% reporting HIV testing). Unmet STI testing need increased across P1 and P2 (26.0% to 32.4%; p<0.001), but trends differed between groups, for example, unmet STI testing need was higher in bisexually-identifying (vs gay-identifying) MSM across periods (adjusted OR (aOR) P1=1.64; P2=1.42), but declined in HIV-positive (vs HIV-negative/unknown) MSM (aOR P1=2.06; P2=0.68). Unmet HIV testing need increased across P1 and P2 (22.9% to 31.0%; p<0.001) and declined in P3 (25.1%; p=0.001). During P3, MSM reporting a low life-satisfaction level (vs medium-very high) had greater unmet need (aOR 1.44), while from P2 onwards HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis users (vs non-users) had lower unmet need (aOR P2=0.32; P3=0.50).CONCLUSION:
Considerable unmet STI/HIV testing need occurred among MSM during COVID-19-related restrictions, especially in bisexually-identifying men and those reporting low life satisfaction. Improving access to STI/HIV testing in MSM is essential to prevent inequalities being exacerbated.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Language:
English
Journal subject:
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Sextrans-2022-055429
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