142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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HIV knowledge and testing behaviors among MSM cohorts

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Shehan V. Welihindha, MEd , Department of Health Promotion, Education, & Behavior, University of South Carolina - Arnold School of Public Health, Columbia, SC
S. Melinda Spencer, PhD, MA , Department of Health Promotion, Education and Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
Jason D. Coleman, PhD , University of Nebraska-Omaha, Omaha, NE
Background:  Since the earliest years of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, researchers and advocates have noted that two of the greatest threats to progress in the field are stigma about testing and complacency about the disease. In order to prevent infection, it is critical to make sure that younger individuals are knowledgeable about HIV and vigilant about getting tested. The purpose of this study was to examine how HIV knowledge was associated with testing behaviors, and whether this association varied by age.

Methods:  Data were drawn from the 2013 South Carolina LGBT Needs Assessment. The analytic sample was limited to men who have sex with men (MSM; n = 335, mean age = 40 years). Age was categorized by cohort based on critical MSM and HIV milestones: Stonewall Founders (aged 51+), HIV Aware Generation (27-50 years), and HIV Complacent Generation(<27 years).  Knowledge about HIV was measured using a 15-item modified version of the HIV-KQ, and testing behaviors was based on frequency (never, < 1/year, and >1/year).

Results:  Results of an analysis of covariance indicated that HIV testing frequency varied by age cohort (p = .02), where members of the HIV Aware Generation got tested more frequently than either Stonewall Founders or members of the HIV Complacent Generation. However, HIV testing frequency was not significantly associated with HIV knowledge (p = 0.65).  

Conclusion:  Interventionists need to consider that an unintended consequence of the many scientific advances in the field of HIV/AIDS might be an increase in complacency about the disease among the younger generation.

Learning Areas:

Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related education

Learning Objectives:
Describe how HIV knowledge and testing behaviors vary by age group among MSM

Keyword(s): HIV Interventions, HIV/AIDS

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the principal investigator for the SC LGBT Needs Assessment and the SC HIV Planning Council White MSM Needs Assessment, and am coordinating a young MSM HIV prevention project.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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