Amsterdam 2015
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| Abstract #2330 - Poster 2 | ||||
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Session: 59.13: Poster 2 (Poster) on Tuesday in Chaired by Authors: Presenting Author: Mr Nicolas Lorente - CEEISCAT, Spain |
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| Additional Authors: | ||||
| Aim: HIV testing, and especially repeat testing, is a key issue in HIV prevention in men who have sex with men (MSM). Community-based testing has already been shown to be feasible and efficient in this population, and the Euro HIV Edat project (co-funded by the European Commission) aims to generate operational knowledge to better understand the role and impact of community-based testing and to increase early HIV/STI diagnosis and treatment in Europe, among the most affected groups, in particular MSM. This project is divided into 6 different work packages. This communication is related to one of them, aiming to implement – for the first time in Europe – a multicentre cohort of HIV-negative MSM in 6 countries. The main objectives are: (1) to describe the patterns of community-based testing use, to identify determinants of (2) HIV/STIs test seeking behaviour and of (3) sexual risk behaviour, (4) to assess the HIV infection incidence rate in MSM, and (4) to identify potential risk factors for seroconversion. | ||||
| Method / Issue: Participants – men older than 18 with a negative HIV test result and reporting to have had sex with men in the previous 12 months – are being recruited and followed-up in checkpoints from 6 European countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Portugal and Slovenia). The participation is being proposed to all eligible men, since February 2015 for the first centre, and recruitment will last until June 2016. Sample size has not been determined in advance because the research objectives require a sample as exhaustive as possible. The follow-up of participant will end in March 2017 within the European project, but would continue afterwards with extra funds. Follow-up frequency will depend on the testing recommendations of each checkpoint (the more common recommendation being “every 6 months”, it is expected to observe at least one visit per year by participant). Participant who did not come back to get tested as recommended by the checkpoint will be contacted, depending on what they agreed to give (e-mail address, phone number, other social network or nothing). At baseline, after a negative HIV test result, eligible users who accept to participate must sign an informed consent those not accepting to enter in the cohort will have to answer 10 questions (socio-demographics and main reasons for refusing) in order to control ion biases. For those included in the cohort, the baseline self-administered questionnaire gathers data about the socio-demographic profile, perception of general health status and of the risk of HIV infection, discrimination in the grounds of sexual orientation, HIV/STIs testing history (including attitudes and intentions), sexual behaviour and condom use, and knowledge, access and intention to use pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis. The follow-up questionnaire is a shorter version of the baseline questionnaire, and will also be self-administered during follow-up visits. | ||||
| Results / Comments: This cohort will contribute to increase scientific knowledge regarding the use of community-based testing, as well as the determinants and the evolution of sexual behaviour over time. The incidence data will be particularly useful to explain the HIV diffusion among MSM, and also to indentify most-affected subgroups. | ||||
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