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Partner Characteristics and Undiagnosed HIV Seropositivity among Men Who Have Sex with Men Only (MSMO) and Men Who Have Sex with Men and Women (MSMW) in Baltimore

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Abstract

This study examined the relationship between HIV risk behaviors, partner characteristics, and undiagnosed seropositivity among men who have sex with men and women (MSMW) and men who have sex with men only (MSMO). BESURE-MSM2 is a venue-based cross-sectional HIV surveillance study conducted among MSM in 2008. Stratified log-binomial regression was used to assess adjusted prevalence ratios of undiagnosed seropositivity among 103 MSMW and 296 MSMO (N = 399). Among MSMO, race/ethnicity, age, having had a sexually transmitted infection, concurrency, and having a black/African American male partner were associated with undiagnosed seropositivity. Among MSMW, having five or more male partners, having a main male partner, and having a main female partner were associated with undiagnosed seropositivity. Our findings underscore the importance of partner characteristics in understanding HIV transmission. HIV programs for men with both male and female partners are needed to address the unique partnership dynamics of MSMW.

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Acknowledgments

The authors express their gratitude to the BESURE Study field staff for their dedication and to the men who participated in this study. This study was supported by contracts to The Johns Hopkins University from the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and by cooperative agreements between the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The analyses described here were supported by Award Number F31MH084767 from the National Institutes of Mental Health. The authors also acknowledge the Mentoring Program of The Center for Population Research in LGBT Health, supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) under Award Number R21HD051178. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NICHD, the National Institutes of Mental Health, or the National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N Broadway, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Cathy Maulsby, Danielle German & David Holtgrave

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

    Frangiscos Sifakis

  3. Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Infectious Disease and Environmental Health Administration, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Colin P. Flynn

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  1. Cathy Maulsby
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Correspondence to Cathy Maulsby.

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Maulsby, C., Sifakis, F., German, D. et al. Partner Characteristics and Undiagnosed HIV Seropositivity among Men Who Have Sex with Men Only (MSMO) and Men Who Have Sex with Men and Women (MSMW) in Baltimore. AIDS Behav 16, 543–553 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-011-0046-4

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