HIV Risk and Prevention Outcomes in a Probability-Based Sample of Gay and Bisexual Men in the United States

Abstract

Background: Although gay and bisexual men (GBM) represent the largest group of HIV-infected individuals in the United States, nearly all evidence on their HIV risk and prevention outcomes derive from nonprobability samples.

Setting: A probability-based cohort of GBM (N = 502) from 45 states and Washington, DC.

Methods: Cross-sectional survey.

Results: Among HIV-negative/unknown/untested GBM, only 6.7% reported using pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in the past 6 months. Two-thirds (63.3%) of PrEP users reported daily adherence in the past week. Over half (54.2%) of GBM reported not using a condom during anal sex with their most recent male partner; of these men, 93.8% were not on PrEP. Most GBM had been tested for HIV (80.7%) and other sexually transmitted infections (67.1%) in their lifetime, with 45.2% having tested for HIV during the past year. Among those ever tested, 14.1% reported being HIV infected, whereas an additional 8.9% reported testing positive for at least one other sexually transmitted infection after their most recent test. All HIV-positive GBM reported being currently on antiretroviral treatment, and 94.7% reported an undetectable viral load, but nearly one-third (30.4%) reported not taking their medication every day during the past month. A majority of HIV-negative/unknown/untested GBM (64.3%) reported that they had never discussed HIV prevention with their primary health care provider.

Conclusions: Our findings present a decidedly mixed picture regarding the success of the US National HIV/AIDS Strategy in meeting its stated goals of addressing HIV risk among the general population of GBM.