Risk behavior and access to HIV preventive transmission in the MSM group in Thanh Hoa, 2022

Abstract

A cross - sectional study conducted in Thanh Hoa from 3 - 6/2022 interviewed 315 MSMs to describe risk behaviors among MSM groups and their access to HIV services prevention of infection in this population. The results showed that 93.0% of MSM participating in the study belonged to the young age group of 16 – 34 years old; the average number of sex times in the past 1 month was 3.0 times (SD = 2.4); 11.4% have had sex with more than one person at the same time; and 97.8% of MSM used condoms in the last sexual intercourse. The rate of MSM participating in the study who used to inject drugs was low (0.6%); the proportion of those taking PrEP treatment was high at 75.9%. Multivariate model analysis showed that people accessed to communication about HIV/AIDS prevention were more likely to participate in PrEP programs than those who had never received them (OR = 4.78; 95%CI = 1.73 - 13.21). However, those who had never had group sex were more likely to participate in PrEP than those who had ever had group sex (OR = 3.90; 95%CI = 1.72 - 8,85). Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen communication about PrEP and the risk of HIV infection among MSM groups, and to expand the scope of the program to a wide range of audiences, especially those with high risk behaviors.