• Yi-Chun Lo, George Turabelidze, Mei Lin, and Yelena Friedberg.
• Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Jefferson City, MO 63103, USA.
• Sex Transm Dis. 2012 Apr 1; 39 (4): 306-11.

BackgroundNew human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) diagnoses in the St. Louis metropolitan area, MO, occur predominantly among men who have sex with men (MSM). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends HIV testing at least annually for sexually active MSM. We examined prevalence and factors associated with recent HIV testing among MSM in the St. Louis area.MethodsThe 2008 National HIV Behavioral Surveillance system recruited men in 21 US metropolitan areas through venue-based, time-space sampling. Men were interviewed for behavioral risks and testing history. The analysis included men in St. Louis who had engaged in male-male sex during the previous year and excluded men who had tested HIV-positive >12 months before the interviews. Factors associated with testing during the previous 12 months were identified using log-binomial regression.ResultsAmong 339 MSM, 198 (58%) had been tested during the previous 12 months. MSM were more likely to have been tested if they were black (adjusted prevalence ratio [APR]: 1.6; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.0-2.5); had visited a health care provider during the previous 12 months (APR: 1.6; 95% CI: 1.3-2.1); or had ever disclosed same-sex attractions or male-male sex to health care providers (APR: 1.6; 95% CI: 1.2-2.0). Of the 141 men who were untested within 12 months, 89 (63%) attributed not testing to perceived low risk.ConclusionsNearly half of sexually active MSM in this analysis had not been tested for HIV during the previous year. Annual visits to health care providers during which sexual risk is discussed are likely to promote testing among MSM.

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