Sexual and Social Network Correlates of Willingness to Self-Test for HIV Among Ever-Tested and Never-Tested Men: Implications for the Tanzania STEP Project

ABSTRACT

We examined factors associated with HIV self-testing (HIVST) willingness among male ever-testers and never-testers who participated in a midpoint survey of a cluster randomized controlled HIV prevention trial in Dar es Salaam. Linear mixed binary logistic regression models were constructed to examine factors (demographic, HIV risk behavior, and sexual/social network) associated with willingness to self-test. Sixtyseven percent of 301 never-testers were willing to self-test for HIV compared to 72% 577 of ever-testers. Among never-testers, having discussed testing for HIV with a sexual partner was the only factor associated with HIVST willingness (2.36, 95% CI: 1.35–4.15). For evertesters, younger men were less willing to self-test than older men while men with higher education were more willing to self-test than less educated men. Having a moderate/great HIV risk perception decreased the odds of HIVST willingness relative to no risk perception (0.40, 95% CI 0.23–0.70) for ever-testers. Discussing HIV testing with a sexual partner and having been encouraged to test for HIV by a friend were associated with higher odds of being willing to self-test (2.22, 2.23; 95% CI 1.34–3.67, 1.14–4.39, respectively) among ever-testers. These findings suggest that HIVST willingness is highly acceptable among both male ever-testers and never-testers.

KEYWORDS:

• HIV self-testing
• men
• never-testers
• social network
• Tanzania

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the men who participated in the interviews for the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Center for AIDS Research (P30AI50410), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Grant #R01MH098690: PI, Suzanne Maman, NIMH Grant #R00MH110343: PI, Donaldson F. Conserve, and a training grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases #T32 AI007001. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.