Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26318960›Full record

ArticleJournal of the International AIDS Society2015

Barriers to HIV testing and characteristics associated with never testing among gay and bisexual men attending sexual health clinics in Sydney.

Damian P Conway, Martin Holt, Deborah L Couldwell, Don E Smith, Stephen C Davies, Anna McNulty, Phillip Keen, Philip Cunningham, Rebecca Guy, Sydney Rapid HIV Test Study

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of the International AIDS Society, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
35citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
4.3field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

35 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 86 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.

Damian P ConwayThe Kirby Institute, UNSW Australia, Sydney, Australia.
Martin HoltCentre for Social Research in Health, UNSW Australia, Sydney, Australia.
Deborah L CouldwellWestern Sydney Sexual Health Centre, Western Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, Australia.
Don E SmithAlbion Centre, Sydney, Australia.
Stephen C DaviesNorth Shore Sexual Health Service, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, Australia.
Anna McNultySchool of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW Australia, Sydney, Australia.
Phillip KeenThe Kirby Institute, UNSW Australia, Sydney, Australia.
Philip CunninghamSt Vincent's Centre for Applied Medical Research, UNSW Australia, Sydney, Australia.
Rebecca GuyThe Kirby Institute, UNSW Australia, Sydney, Australia.
Sydney Rapid HIV Test Study
University of Sydney · AUUNSW Sydney · AUSt George Hospital · AUSt Vincent's Clinic · AUSydney Sexual Health Centre · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionHIV diagnoses among gay and bisexual men have increased over the past decade in Australia. HIV point-of-care testing (POCT) was introduced in Australia in 2011 as a strategy to increase HIV testing by making the testing process more convenient. We surveyed gay and bisexual men undergoing POCT to assess barriers to HIV testing and characteristics associated with not having previously tested for HIV (never testing).

methodsDuring 2011 and 2012, gay and bisexual men who were undergoing POCT at four Sydney sexual health clinics self-completed questionnaires assessing testing history and psychological and structural barriers to HIV testing. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to assess associations between patient characteristics and never testing.

resultsOf 1093 participants, 981 (89.9%) reported ever testing for HIV and 110 (10.1%) never testing. At least one barrier to testing was reported by 1046 men (95.7%), with only 47 men (4.3%) not reporting any barrier to testing. The most commonly reported barriers to testing were annoyance at having to return for results (30.2%), not having done anything risky (29.6%), stress in waiting for results (28.4%), being afraid of testing positive (27.5%) and having tested recently (23.2%). Never testing was independently associated with being non-gay-identified (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 1.9; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.1-3.2), being aged less than 25 years (AOR: 2.4; 95% CI: 1.6-3.8), living in a suburb with few gay couples (AOR: 1.9; 95% CI: 1.2-3.0), being afraid of testing HIV-positive (AOR: 1.6; 95% CI: 1.0-2.4), not knowing where to test (AOR: 3.8; 95% CI: 1.3-11.2) and reporting one or no sexual partners in the last six months (AOR: 2.7; 95% CI: 1.2-6.2).

conclusionsBarriers to HIV testing were commonly reported among the clinic-based gay and bisexual men in this study. Our findings suggest further health promotion and prevention strategies are needed to address the knowledge, attitudes and behavioural factors associated with never testing.

Indexed as

BisexualityAdultAustraliaHIV InfectionsHomosexuality, MaleHumansLogistic ModelsMaleMiddle AgedPoint-of-Care SystemsReproductive Healthbarriers to HIV testinggay and bisexual mennever testingsexual health clinics

Identifiers

PMID26318960
PMCPMC4552862
OpenAlexW1952259858

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.