Knowledge and awareness of HIV self-testing among Australian gay and bisexual men: a comparison of never, sub-optimal and optimal testers willingness to use

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the willingness to use and pay for HIV Self-testing (HIVST) among Australian gay and bisexual men (GBM). Bivariate and univariate multinominal logistic regression of data from an online survey was performed. Thirty-one (13%) had never HIV tested and 41.9% (88) were testing sub-optimally by Australian guidelines. Half (58.4%, 136) had never heard of HIVST, however, 56.2% (131) reported willingness to use HIVST, with sub-optimal (OR=2.13; p < 0.01) and never-testers (OR=2.01; p < 0.10) significantly more likely to do so than optimal-testers. Most were confident (51.7%, 119) or somewhat confident (29.1%, 67) accessing support following a reactive result, however, never-testers were significantly less confident compared to previous testers (OR=3.47; p< 0.05). Less than a quarter (23.6%, 57) were willing to pay for a kit with AUD$15 (R² = 0.9882) the estimated preferred price. This research confirms that HIVST is an important and accepted adjunct to established HIV testing modalities, particularly among sub-optimal and never-testers and that online (61.6%, 143) or clinic-based (61.6%, 143) dissemination are preferred. Research examining how best to disseminate HIVST in a range of safe and effective models needs to continue to ensure HIVST is part of a comprehensive strategy that facilitates usage and linkages to care.

KEYWORDS:

• HIV
• self-testing
• home-testing
• Australia
• men who have sex with men

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Queensland AIDS Council, Queensland Positive People (Life+ and RAPID) for their assistance in advertising and recruitment. They acknowledge the time and contribution of the respondents. This work was supported by the HIV Foundation of Queensland Research Grant.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Judith Dean http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2513-2013

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by The Queensland HIV Foundation Research Grant 2015.