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Sexual Stigma Patterns Among Nigerian Men Who Have Sex with Men and Their Link to HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevalence

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Abstract

Sexual stigma facilitates the spread of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) but little is known about stigma affecting Nigerian men who have sex with men (MSM). We assessed patterns of sexual stigma across Nigerian MSM and their relationship to HIV and STIs. Data were collected from the TRUST/RV368 Study, a prospective cohort of 1480 Nigerian MSM enrolled from March 2013 to February 2016 using respondent driven sampling. Structural equation modeling was utilized to assess the association between stigma classes and HIV and STI prevalence, adjusting for participants’ characteristics. A dose–response association was found between stigma class and HIV prevalence (27, 40, 55%, overall χ2 p < 0.001) and STI prevalence (15, 21, 24%, overall χ2 p = 0.011). These data suggest that stigma mitigation strategies, combined with increased engagement of MSM and retention in the HIV care continuum, need to be a component of interventions focused on reducing HIV transmission risks among MSM in Nigeria.

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Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to the individuals who participated in this study, despite the sexual stigma they have experienced, as well as to the study staff who have remained dedicated to the mission of TRUST/RV368 throughout.

Disclaimer

The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be construed to represent the positions of the U.S. Army, the Department of Defense, or the Department of Health and Human Services. The investigators have adhered to the policies for protection of human subjects as prescribed in AR-70.

Funding

This work was supported by a cooperative agreement (W81XWH-11-2-0174) between the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc., and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). This study is also supported by funds from the US National Institutes of Health under Award No. R01MH099001 and R01AI120913 and training grant T32 A1050056-12, the US Military HIV Research Program (Grant No. W81XWH-07-2-0067), Fogarty AITRP (D43TW01041), and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief through cooperative agreement U2G IPS000651 from the HHS/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Global AIDS Program with IHVN.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Cristina Rodriguez-Hart, Rebecca G. Nowak, Uchenna Ononaku & Man Charurat

  2. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Cristina Rodriguez-Hart, Rashelle Musci, Danielle German & Stefan Baral

  3. International Center on Advocacy and Rights to Health, Abuja, Nigeria

    Ifeanyi Orazulike

  4. University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD, USA

    Hongjie Liu

  5. U.S. Military HIV Research Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD, USA

    Trevor A. Crowell

  6. Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Trevor A. Crowell

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  1. Cristina Rodriguez-Hart
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  2. Rashelle Musci
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  3. Rebecca G. Nowak
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  4. Danielle German
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  8. Trevor A. Crowell
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  9. Stefan Baral
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  10. Man Charurat
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For the TRUST/RV368 Study Group

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Correspondence to Cristina Rodriguez-Hart.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Approval for the study was obtained by the Federal Capital Territory Health Research Ethics Committee, the University of Maryland Baltimore Institutional Review Board (IRB), and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research IRB.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Rodriguez-Hart, C., Musci, R., Nowak, R.G. et al. Sexual Stigma Patterns Among Nigerian Men Who Have Sex with Men and Their Link to HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevalence. AIDS Behav 22, 1662–1670 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-017-1982-4

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