LGBT Health | February 2017
Purpose: Adolescent sexual minority males (ASMM) comprise a high-risk group that may benefit from expanded human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention services. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of HIV and STD testing among ASMM from pooled high school Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (YRBSs).
Methods: Data came from 26 YRBSs from 2005 to 2013, which included questions on sexual identity and/or sex of sexual contacts and questions on ever being tested for HIV and/or STDs. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify factors independently associated with lifetime HIV testing among sexually experienced ASMM.
Results: Overall, 3027 of 43,037 (6.3%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 5.8%–6.8%) males were categorized as ASMM. Among 1229 sexually experienced ASMM, 413 (26.6%, 95% CI: 21.8%–31.4%) reported ever being tested for HIV, and among 571 ASMM who reported not using a condom during last intercourse, 192 (29.4%, 95% CI: 21.3%–37.6%) reported testing. A longer duration since first intercourse (?3 vs. ?1 year: adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR]: 1.6, 95% CI: 1.0–2.6) and recent intercourse (within the past 3 months vs. earlier: aPR: 2.2, 95% CI: 1.4–3.4) was associated with a higher adjusted prevalence of HIV testing. Sixty-four of 252 (30.2%, 95% CI: 20.0%–40.4%) sexually experienced ASMM reported ever being tested for STDs.
Conclusion: Low levels of testing among sexually experienced ASMM, particularly those who reported sex without a condom at last intercourse, highlight the exigency of improving age-appropriate HIV and STD prevention services. Educating healthcare providers to better assess adolescent sexual histories is essential to increasing testing.
Special thanks to the CAMP Applied Public Health Advisory Group:
The authors would like to thank the Applied Public Health Advisory Group, a collaborative set of state and local public health professionals convened for this project, for their guidance and expertise. We would like to specifically thank David Dowdy, Jane Kelly, Preeti Pathela, Mary Ann Chiasson and Jim Curran for reviewing this paper and providing feedback.
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