Longitudinal effects of home-based HIV self-testing on well-being and health empowerment among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States

ABSTRACT

HIV self-test (HST) kits have been available for purchase directly by consumers since 2012. However, public health and prevention programs have been slow to adopt self-testing as a strategy for improving testing rates and regularity, in part due to concerns about its effects on the well-being of users and lack of follow-up. This study explored whether there were differences in several constructs related to well-being, including health-related quality of life, social support, health empowerment, and emotional distress, across those who used HSTs versus tested at a clinic over time. Data were drawn from a longitudinal randomized controlled trial exploring methods of encouraging HIV testing (clinic-based, regular home delivery of HSTs) and providing follow-up afterward. Results showed that using HST in a given month was not associated with changes in either distress or well-being that same month. Although social support was lower in months when HST was used (versus clinic-based testing), participants reported that engaging in other health behaviors (e.g., Healthy diet, exercise) were more important in months they used HST compared to testing in a clinic, suggesting that HST may empower MSM to begin making other lifestyle changes that could improve their health.

Trial registration: Uniform Trial Number identifier: NCT02876926.

KEYWORDS:

• HIV infections
• sexual and gender minorities
• health risk behaviors
• quality of life

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This manuscript was supported by R21MH109374 and R01MH114891 from the National Institute on Mental Health and L30AA023336 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. PAC is supported by the National Institute on Mental Health (R01MH114657).