TY - JOUR
T1 - Time for change
T2 - Transitions between HIV risk levels and determinants of behavior change in men who have sex with men
AU - Basten, M.G.J.
AU - van Wees, D.A.
AU - Matser, A.
AU - Boyd, A.
AU - Rozhnova, G.
AU - den Daas, C.
AU - Kretzschmar, M.E.E.
AU - Heijne, J.C.M.
N1 - Funding Information: This project was funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development ZonMw grant 522004009. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Basten et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2021/12/1
Y1 - 2021/12/1
N2 - © 2021 Basten et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.As individual sexual behavior is variable over time, the timing of interventions might be vital to reducing HIV transmission. We aimed to investigate transitions between HIV risk levels among men who have sex with men (MSM), and identify determinants associated with behavior change. Participants in a longitudinal cohort study among HIV-negative MSM (Amsterdam Cohort Studies) completed questionnaires about their sexual behavior during biannual visits (2008-2017). Visits were assigned to different HIV risk levels, based on latent classes of behavior. We modelled transitions between risk levels, and identified determinants associated with these transitions at the visit preceding the transition using multi-state Markov models. Based on 7,865 visits of 767 participants, we classified three risk levels: low (73% of visits), medium (22%), and high risk (5%). For MSM at low risk, the six-month probability of increasing risk was 0.11. For MSM at medium risk, the probability of increasing to high risk was 0.08, while the probability of decreasing to low risk was 0.33. For MSM at high risk, the probability of decreasing risk was 0.43. Chemsex, erection stimulants and poppers, high HIV risk perception, and recent STI diagnosis were associated with increased risk at the next visit. High HIV risk perception and young age were associated with decreasing risk. Although the majority of MSM showed no behavior change, a considerable proportion increased HIV risk. Determinants associated with behavior change may help to identify MSM who are likely to increase risk in the near future and target interventions at these individuals, thereby reducing HIV transmission.
AB - © 2021 Basten et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.As individual sexual behavior is variable over time, the timing of interventions might be vital to reducing HIV transmission. We aimed to investigate transitions between HIV risk levels among men who have sex with men (MSM), and identify determinants associated with behavior change. Participants in a longitudinal cohort study among HIV-negative MSM (Amsterdam Cohort Studies) completed questionnaires about their sexual behavior during biannual visits (2008-2017). Visits were assigned to different HIV risk levels, based on latent classes of behavior. We modelled transitions between risk levels, and identified determinants associated with these transitions at the visit preceding the transition using multi-state Markov models. Based on 7,865 visits of 767 participants, we classified three risk levels: low (73% of visits), medium (22%), and high risk (5%). For MSM at low risk, the six-month probability of increasing risk was 0.11. For MSM at medium risk, the probability of increasing to high risk was 0.08, while the probability of decreasing to low risk was 0.33. For MSM at high risk, the probability of decreasing risk was 0.43. Chemsex, erection stimulants and poppers, high HIV risk perception, and recent STI diagnosis were associated with increased risk at the next visit. High HIV risk perception and young age were associated with decreasing risk. Although the majority of MSM showed no behavior change, a considerable proportion increased HIV risk. Determinants associated with behavior change may help to identify MSM who are likely to increase risk in the near future and target interventions at these individuals, thereby reducing HIV transmission.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85121042526&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259913
DO - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259913
M3 - Article
C2 - 34882698
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 16
JO - PLOS ONE
JF - PLOS ONE
IS - 12 December
M1 - e0259913
ER -
