HIV and employment among Black men who have sex with men in Baltimore

ABSTRACT

Employment status is a key social determinant of health, and many populations in the United States that are impacted by HIV have unequal access to education and employment opportunities which contributes to HIV-related disparities. Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) are one of the groups most heavily burdened by HIV. With improved health outcomes associated with advancements in HIV treatment, research suggests that more people living with HIV want to work. This study describes employment among BMSM living in Baltimore, assesses differences in employment by HIV status and assesses predictors of full-time employment among BMSM. The study found that BMSM have limited access to full-time employment and that this disparity is even more pronounced among BMSM living with HIV. Men living with HIV were less likely to be employed full-time compared to men not living with HIV controlling for education and social contextual factors (OR 0.40 95% CI (0.22–0.73)). HIV will most likely have important implications for employment patterns and trajectories of BMSM over the life course. Additional research is needed among BMSM living with HIV to understand work histories and experiences, facilitating factors, and the impact of various work experiences on the health and wellbeing.

KEYWORDS:

• Employment
• HIV

Acknowledgements

The authors express their gratitude to the BESURE Study field staff for their dedication and to the men who participated in this study. We would also like to thank the members of the Expert Advisory Panel members for Grant K01 MH111388-01 for their input and guidance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Jordan J. White http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9550-6375

Carl A. Latkin http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7931-2116

Additional information

Funding

The BESURE study was supported by contracts to The Johns Hopkins University from the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and by cooperative agreements between the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The analyses described here were supported by National Institute of Mental Health under Grant K01 MH111388-01.