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Safe Spaces 4 Sexual Health: A Status-Neutral, Mobile Van, HIV/STI Testing Intervention Using Online Outreach to Reach MSM at High Risk for HIV Acquisition or Transmission
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7 01 2022
Source: J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 90(Suppl 1):S84-S89 -
Alternative Title:J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr
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Personal Author:
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Description:Background:
Black MSM carry the greatest burden of new HIV diagnoses in the US. Ending the HIV epidemic (EHE) requires strategic, culturally specific approaches to target factors contributing to persistent HIV disparities.
Setting:
Safe Spaces 4 Sexual Health (SS4SH), a community-informed HIV/STI testing strategy combining mobile van testing with online outreach, was implemented over a 14-month period from 2018–2019 in Baltimore, Maryland.
Methods:
We evaluated the reach of MSM at high risk with high acquisition or transmission risk by SS4SH mobile van combined with online outreach as compared to the Baltimore City Health Department’s (BCHD) venue-based mobile van (with no online outreach) operating during the same period based on the following HIV/STI testing outcome measures 1) number of MSM HIV or STI tested, 2) new HIV diagnosis rate, 3) percent with new syphilis diagnosis, 4) percent at high risk for HIV acquisition, and 5) percent PLHIV at high risk for transmission.
Results:
Over a 14-month period, SS4SH HIV/STI tested 151 MSM. Of these, 74% were Black, mean age was 34 (SD=10, range=19–68). Seven percent (10/148) were new HIV diagnoses and 10% (13/130) were diagnosed with syphilis. The BCHD venue-based mobile van strategy yielded 53% (231) more MSM (71% Black, mean age 38, SD=14, range=15–74), but the HIV/syphilis positivity rate was significantly lower: 0.5% new HIV diagnosis rate (p<0.001) and 0.5% with syphilis diagnosis (p<0.001).
Conclusions:
Our findings suggest SS4SH combing online outreach with mobile van testing may be more effective at reaching high risk Black MSM than venue-based mobile testing.
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Pubmed ID:35703759
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Pubmed Central ID:PMC9204786
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