ArticlemHealth2018
Vending machines in commercial sex venues to increase HIV self-testing among men who have sex with men.
Article in mHealth, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Vending machines for reducing harm associated with substance use and use disorders, and co-occurring conditions: a systematic review.Harm reduction journal · 2025Pooled it
- A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analyses to Assess the Effectiveness of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Self-testing Distribution Strategies.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2021Pooled it
- Article
- "Smart" harm reduction vending machines to improve public health: Evaluating the utilization.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2026Article
- Optimizing Veteran-Facing Materials for Vending Machine-Dispensed HIV Self-Testing: Formative Qualitative Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Pilot Study of Social Media Promotion of Home-Based Self-Testing for Syphilis.Sexually transmitted diseases · 2026Article
- Use of Vending Machines to Deliver Oral Rapid HIV Self-Tests to Veterans: Protocol for a Pilot Study.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- Recruitment for Voluntary Video and Mobile HIV Testing on Social Media Platforms During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- Article
- Acceptability of digital vending machines to improve access to sexual and reproductive health in Brighton, UK: a qualitative analysis.BMJ public health · 2024Article
- HIV self-testing adoption and post-test linkage to care among men who have sex with men in China: a nationwide cross-sectional survey.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Implementation determinants of HIV Self-Testing among young sexual minority men.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2023Article
- Highlighting and addressing barriers to widespread adaptation of HIV self-testing in the United States.Expert review of molecular diagnostics · 2023Review
- Increasing access to HIV testing for men who have sex with men in Japan using digital vending machine technology.International journal of STD & AIDS · 2022Article
- Technology-Delivered Intervention Strategies to Bolster HIV Testing.Current HIV/AIDS reports · 2021Review
- Five Waves of an Online HIV Self-Test Giveaway in New York City, 2015 to 2018.Sexually transmitted diseases · 2020Article
- High prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection and low level of awareness among people who recently started injecting drugs in a cross-sectional study in Germany, 2011-2014: missed opportunities for hepatitis C testing.Harm reduction journal · 2020Article
- Attitudes and Preferences Regarding the Use of Rapid Self-Testing for Sexually Transmitted Infections and HIV in San Diego Area Men Who Have Sex With Men.Open forum infectious diseases · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCommercial sex venues (CSV), bathhouses and sex clubs, have a long history of serving a high-risk population. In those facilities, patrons engage in multiple sexual encounters and often in high-risk sexual behaviors. Designing prevention interventions specifically for CSVs could be an effective way to increase testing and control HIV transmission.
methodsIn collaboration with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), our team distributed free HIV self-test kits using vending machines located at two CSVs in Los Angeles, California. Test kit dispensing rate was monitored remotely. Patrons receiving a test kit were surveyed regarding their testing experience, test result and follow up. Linkage to care was offered to participants.
resultsDuring 18 months, 1,398 kits were dispensed. The survey was completed by 110 patrons (response rate =7.9%). Among those who reported that they used the test kit (n=96), 17 (17.7%) participants reported a first-time reactive HIV result. At the time of the survey, six participants with reactive results reported seeking confirmatory testing and linkage to care and four had initiated treatment. Two participants requested linkage-to-care assistance. Participants reported valuing the privacy and convenience of the vending machine but were skeptical on the accuracy of their result. The startup cost, including the purchase of two vending machines, was $10,000 and the recurring cost (monitoring, test kits, personnel) was $33.81 per kit vended.
conclusionsWhile survey response was low, our results demonstrate that an intervention using vending machines and HIV self-test kits in CSVs was acceptable, feasible, used by the CSV patrons and can help identify new HIV cases.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.