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Repeated HIV Voluntary Counseling and Testing Increased Risk Behaviors Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in China: A Prospective Cohort Study

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Abstract

High risk MSM are recommended to take up HIV voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) once every 6 months. 809 HIV-negative MSM in Beijing, China entered the 18-month prospective cohort study; 228 joined an extended study at month 21. The majority (92.5 %) of the participants had taken up four rounds of VCT over the study period. HIV prevalence at months 0, 6, 12, 18 and 21 ranged from 2.5 to 6.3 %; HIV incidences for the four intervals between the five visits ranged from 5.00 to 14.28 per 100-person year. Despite experiencing repeated VCT, high levels of risk behaviors were reported at month 21. 18 % of the participants interviewed at month 21 self-reported increased in UAI and other risk behaviors, comparing recent and pre-baseline experiences. HIV transmission and risk behaviors had not been reduced by multiple rounds of VCT. Reasons behind apparent ineffectiveness and tailored repeated testing strategies need to be investigated.

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Acknowledgments

The study was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2012ZX10004-904).

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Centre for Health Behaviours Research, JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

      Joseph T. F. Lau, Zixin Wang & Coco H. Y. Lai

    2. CUHK Shenzhen Research Institute (SZRI), Shenzhen, China

      Joseph T. F. Lau & Zixin Wang

    3. Centre for Medical Anthropology and Behavioral Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China

      Joseph T. F. Lau

    4. Chaoyang Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China

      Dongliang Li

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    1. Joseph T. F. Lau
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    Correspondence to Joseph T. F. Lau.

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    Joseph T.F. Lau and Dongliang Li have contributed equally to this manuscript

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    Lau, J.T.F., Li, D., Wang, Z. et al. Repeated HIV Voluntary Counseling and Testing Increased Risk Behaviors Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in China: A Prospective Cohort Study. AIDS Behav 19, 1966–1977 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-015-1034-x

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