Logo image
Back
Inequities in access to HIV prevention services for transgender men: results of a global survey of men who have sex with men
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Inequities in access to HIV prevention services for transgender men: results of a global survey of men who have sex with men

Ayden I Scheim, Glenn-Milo Santos, Sonya Arreola, Keletso Makofane, Tri D Do, Patrick Hebert, Matthew Thomann and George Ayala
Journal of the International AIDS Society, v 19(3 Suppl 2), pp 20779-n/a
2016
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7448/IAS.19.3.20779
PMID: 27431466
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://doi.org/10.7448/ias.19.3.20779View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open
url
https://doi.org/10.7448/IAS.19.3.20779View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

Adult Condoms - statistics & numerical data Health Personnel Health Services Accessibility HIV Infections - prevention & control Homosexuality, Male Humans Lubricants Male Men North America Sexual Behavior - statistics & numerical data Social Stigma Surveys and Questionnaires Transgender Persons
Free or low-cost HIV testing, condoms, and lubricants are foundational HIV prevention strategies, yet are often inaccessible for men who have sex with men (MSM). In the global context of stigma and poor healthcare access, transgender (trans) MSM may face additional barriers to HIV prevention services. Drawing on data from a global survey of MSM, we aimed to describe perceived access to prevention services among trans MSM, examine associations between stigma and access, and compare access between trans MSM and cisgender (non-transgender) MSM. The 2014 Global Men's Health and Rights online survey was open to MSM (inclusive of trans MSM) from any country and available in seven languages. Baseline data (n=3857) were collected from July to October 2014. Among trans MSM, correlations were calculated between perceived service accessibility and anti-transgender violence, healthcare provider stigma, and discrimination. Using a nested matched-pair study design, trans MSM were matched 4:1 to cisgender MSM on age group, region, and HIV status, and conditional logistic regression models compared perceived access to prevention services by transgender status. About 3.4% of respondents were trans men, of whom 69 were included in the present analysis. The average trans MSM participant was 26 to 35 years old (56.5%); lived in western Europe, North America, or Oceania (75.4%); and reported being HIV-negative (98.6%). HIV testing, condoms, and lubricants were accessible for 43.5, 53.6, and 26.1% of trans MSM, respectively. Ever having been arrested or convicted due to being trans and higher exposure to healthcare provider stigma in the past six months were associated with less access to some prevention services. Compared to matched cisgender controls, trans MSM reported significantly lower odds of perceived access to HIV testing (OR=0.57, 95% CI=0.33, 0.98) and condom-compatible lubricants (OR=0.54, 95% CI=0.30, 0.98). This first look at access to HIV prevention services for trans MSM globally found that most reported inadequate access to basic prevention services and that they were less likely than cisgender MSM to have access to HIV testing and lubricants. Results indicate the need to enhance access to basic HIV prevention services for trans MSM, including MSM-specific services.

Metrics

8 Record Views
72 citations in Web of Science
67 citations in Scopus

Details

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#5 Gender Equality
#3 Good Health and Well-Being

InCites Highlights

Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:

Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Immunology
Infectious Diseases
Logo image