IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aph/ajpbhl/1993835701-704_4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Factors affecting gay and bisexual men's decisions and intentions to seek HIV testing

Author

Listed:
  • Myers, T.
  • Orr, K.W.
  • Locker, D.
  • Jackson, E.A.

Abstract

Objectives. This paper describes the relationships of sociodemographic, attitudinal, and behavioral variables to (1) decision to be tested, (2) expressed intention to be tested, and (3) reasons for not being tested for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody. Methods. A sample of 1295 men completed an anonymous questionnaire in gay-identified venues. Factor analysis was used to group reasons for not being tested and logistic and multiple linear regression were used to model the dependent variables. Results. Fifty-three percent of the respondents had been tested, of whom 26% tested positive. Metropolitan residence and anal intercourse most strongly correlated with previous test-seeking. Previous test experience correlated most strongly with intention to be tested. Reasons for not being tested fell into three groups: (1) desire for anonymity, (2) self-perceived health, and (3) no benefit and denial. The odds were lower for gay men than bisexuals and men who did not participate in anal intercourse to express a desire for anonymity. Conclusions. Public health agencies should be prepared to individualize testing policies and education to deal with specific concerns and fears. Improving access to the test by removing some of the current psychological and physical barriers will enhance its medical and public health value.

Suggested Citation

  • Myers, T. & Orr, K.W. & Locker, D. & Jackson, E.A., 1993. "Factors affecting gay and bisexual men's decisions and intentions to seek HIV testing," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 83(5), pages 701-704.
  • Handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:1993:83:5:701-704_4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:1993:83:5:701-704_4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Christopher F Baum (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.apha.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.