Alan Neaigus1, Kathleen H Reilly, Samuel M Jenness, Travis Wendel, David M Marshall, Holly Hagan. 1. From the *HIV Epidemiology Program, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York, NY; †Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA; ‡Department of Anthropology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, NY; and §College of Nursing, New York University, New York, NY.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: There is a large and disproportionate burden of HIV in black men who have sex with men (MSM) which is not adequately explained by racial/ethnic differences in risk behaviors. However, social factors may account for this disparity in HIV infection. We examine the extent to which both individual risk behaviors and social factors reduce the effect of black race and may account for the disparity in HIV infection of black MSM. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study in New York City in 2011, MSM were venue sampled, interviewed, and HIV tested. Variables associated (P < 0.10) both with black race and testing HIV positive were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: Of 416 participants who were HIV tested and did not self-report being positive, 19.5% were black, 41.1% were Hispanic, 30.5% were white, and 8.9% were of other race/ethnicity. Overall, 8.7% tested positive (24.7% of blacks, 7.6% of Hispanics, 1.0% of whites, and 5.4% of other). The effect of black race versus non-black race/ethnicity with testing HIV positive declined by 49.2%, (crude odds ratio, 6.5 [95% confidence interval, 3.2-13.3] vs. adjusted odds ratio, 3.3 [95% confidence interval, 1.5-7.5]), after adjustment for having a black last sex partner, not having tested for HIV in the past 12 months, Brooklyn residency, and having an annual income less than US$20,000. CONCLUSIONS: Greater HIV infection risk of black MSM may result from social factors and less frequent HIV testing than from differences in risk behaviors. To reduce the disparity in HIV infection of black MSM, multilevel interventions that both ameliorate social risk factors and increase the frequency of HIV testing are needed.
BACKGROUND: There is a large and disproportionate burden of HIV in black men who have sex with men (MSM) which is not adequately explained by racial/ethnic differences in risk behaviors. However, social factors may account for this disparity in HIV infection. We examine the extent to which both individual risk behaviors and social factors reduce the effect of black race and may account for the disparity in HIV infection of black MSM. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study in New York City in 2011, MSM were venue sampled, interviewed, and HIV tested. Variables associated (P < 0.10) both with black race and testing HIV positive were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: Of 416 participants who were HIV tested and did not self-report being positive, 19.5% were black, 41.1% were Hispanic, 30.5% were white, and 8.9% were of other race/ethnicity. Overall, 8.7% tested positive (24.7% of blacks, 7.6% of Hispanics, 1.0% of whites, and 5.4% of other). The effect of black race versus non-black race/ethnicity with testing HIV positive declined by 49.2%, (crude odds ratio, 6.5 [95% confidence interval, 3.2-13.3] vs. adjusted odds ratio, 3.3 [95% confidence interval, 1.5-7.5]), after adjustment for having a black last sex partner, not having tested for HIV in the past 12 months, Brooklyn residency, and having an annual income less than US$20,000. CONCLUSIONS: Greater HIV infection risk of black MSM may result from social factors and less frequent HIV testing than from differences in risk behaviors. To reduce the disparity in HIV infection of black MSM, multilevel interventions that both ameliorate social risk factors and increase the frequency of HIV testing are needed.
Authors: Samuel M Jenness; Alan Neaigus; Christopher S Murrill; Camila Gelpi-Acosta; Travis Wendel; Holly Hagan Journal: Public Health Rep Date: 2011 Sep-Oct Impact factor: 2.792
Authors: Alan Neaigus; Samuel M Jenness; Holly Hagan; Christopher S Murrill; Lucia V Torian; Travis Wendel; Camila Gelpi-Acosta Journal: AIDS Behav Date: 2012-04
Authors: Gregory Phillips; Manya Magnus; Irene Kuo; Katharine D Shelley; Anthony Rawls; Tiffany West-Ojo; Yujiang Jia; Jenevieve Opoku; Alan E Greenberg Journal: AIDS Care Date: 2013-02-27
Authors: Beryl A Koblin; Kenneth H Mayer; Susan H Eshleman; Lei Wang; Sharon Mannheimer; Carlos del Rio; Steven Shoptaw; Manya Magnus; Susan Buchbinder; Leo Wilton; Ting-Yuan Liu; Vanessa Cummings; Estelle Piwowar-Manning; Sheldon D Fields; Sam Griffith; Vanessa Elharrar; Darrell Wheeler Journal: PLoS One Date: 2013-07-26 Impact factor: 3.240
Authors: Brent A Johnson; Jennie McKenney; Alexandra V Ricca; Eli S Rosenberg; Chang Liu; Akshay Sharma; Patrick S Sullivan Journal: AIDS Educ Prev Date: 2016-12
Authors: Ali Mirzazadeh; Jennifer L Evans; Judith A Hahn; Jennifer Jain; Alya Briceno; Stephen Shiboski; Paula J Lum; Christopher Bentsen; Geoff Davis; Kathy Shriver; Melanie Dimapasoc; Mars Stone; Michael P Busch; Kimberly Page Journal: AIDS Behav Date: 2018-04
Authors: Hong-Van Tieu; Vijay Nandi; Donald R Hoover; Debbie Lucy; Kiwan Stewart; Victoria Frye; Magdalena Cerda; Danielle Ompad; Carl Latkin; Beryl A Koblin Journal: AIDS Patient Care STDS Date: 2016-01 Impact factor: 5.078
Authors: Samuel M Jenness; Kevin M Weiss; Pragati Prasad; Maria Zlotorzynska; Travis Sanchez Journal: Sex Transm Dis Date: 2019-01 Impact factor: 2.830