Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35863887›Full record

ArticleSexually transmitted infections2022

Changes in STI and HIV testing and testing need among men who have sex with men during the UK's COVID-19 pandemic response.

Jack Rg Brown, David Reid, Alison R Howarth, Hamish Mohammed, John Saunders, Caisey V Pulford, Gwenda Hughes, Catherine H Mercer

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

Article in Sexually transmitted infections, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
3.0field-weighted citation impact, top 7% 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

15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 29 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

8 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.

Jack Rg BrownUCL Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK jack.brown@ucl.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1334-8658
David ReidUCL Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6832-2418
Alison R HowarthUCL Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0597-6614
Hamish MohammedUCL Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2060-7286
John SaundersUCL Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9658-7798
Caisey V PulfordThe National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Blood Borne and Sexually Transmitted Infections at University College London in partnership with the UK Health Security Agency, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2500-9119
Gwenda HughesThe National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Blood Borne and Sexually Transmitted Infections at University College London in partnership with the UK Health Security Agency, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2090-7702
Catherine H MercerUCL Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4220-5034
National Institute for Health Research · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesWe examined the impact of COVID-19-related restrictions on sexual behaviours, STI and HIV testing and testing need among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the UK.

methodsWe used social media and dating applications to recruit to three cross-sectional surveys (S1-S3) during the UK's pandemic response (S1: 23 June-14 July 2020; S2: 23 November-12 December 2020; S3: 23 March-14 April 2021). Surveys included lookback periods of around 3-4 months (P1-P3, respectively). Eligible participants were UK resident men (cisgender/transgender) and gender-diverse people assigned male at birth (low numbers of trans and gender-diverse participants meant restricting these analyses to cisgender men), aged ≥16 years who reported sex with men (cisgender/transgender) in the last year (S1: N=1950; S2: N=1463; S3: N=1487). Outcomes were: recent STI/HIV testing and unmet testing need (new male and/or multiple condomless anal sex partners without a recent STI/HIV test). Crude and adjusted associations with each outcome were assessed using logistic regression.

resultsParticipants' sociodemographic characteristics were similar across surveys. The proportion reporting a recent STI and/or HIV test increased between P1 and P2 (25.0% to 37.2% (p<0.001) and 29.7% to 39.4% (p<0.001), respectively), then stabilised in P3 (40.5% reporting HIV testing). Unmet STI testing need increased across P1 and P2 (26.0% to 32.4%; p<0.001), but trends differed between groups, for example, unmet STI testing need was higher in bisexually-identifying (vs gay-identifying) MSM across periods (adjusted OR (aOR): P1=1.64; P2=1.42), but declined in HIV-positive (vs HIV-negative/unknown) MSM (aOR: P1=2.06; P2=0.68). Unmet HIV testing need increased across P1 and P2 (22.9% to 31.0%; p<0.001) and declined in P3 (25.1%; p=0.001). During P3, MSM reporting a low life-satisfaction level (vs medium-very high) had greater unmet need (aOR: 1.44), while from P2 onwards HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis users (vs non-users) had lower unmet need (aOR: P2=0.32; P3=0.50).

conclusionConsiderable unmet STI/HIV testing need occurred among MSM during COVID-19-related restrictions, especially in bisexually-identifying men and those reporting low life satisfaction. Improving access to STI/HIV testing in MSM is essential to prevent inequalities being exacerbated.

Indexed as

COVID-19HIVsexual behavioursexual health

Identifiers

PMID35863887
PMCPMC10313956
OpenAlexW4286498767

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.