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Table 2 Risk perception, outness, sexual identity, intention to get tested, reasons to decline a test voucher, arguments in favour of home/home collection testing, and risk management beyond condom use in two MSM subgroups from Germany, 2013

From: HIV risk perception and testing behaviours among men having sex with men (MSM) reporting potential transmission risks in the previous 12 months from a large online sample of MSM living in Germany

 

HIV test in the last 12 months (n = 775) n (%)

Never tested for HIV (n = 396) n (%)

OR

95 % CI

aORa

95 % CI

Perceived risk at last AI

No/very low risk (0–1)

297 (40.97)

161 (43.40)

Ref.

 

Ref.

 

Low risk (2–4)

146 (20.14)

67 (18.06)

0.85

0.60–1.20

0.92

0.64–1.33

Medium risk (5)

148 (20.41)

86 (23.18)

1.07

0.77–1.49

1.18

0.83–1.67

High risk (6–8)

79 (10.90)

26 (7.01)

0.61

0.37–0.98

0.67

0.40–1.11

Very high risk (9–10)

55 (7.59)

31 (8.36)

1.04

0.64–1.68

1.06

0.63–1.76

Perceived risk in the last 12 months

No/very low risk (0–1)

172 (24.09)

122 (33.89)

Ref.

   

Low risk (2–4)

237 (33.19)

109 (30.28)

0.65

0.47–0.90

0.69

0.48–0.97

Medium risk (5)

183 (25.63)

79 (21.94)

0.61

0.43–0.86

0.59

0.40–0.85

High risk (6–8)

83 (11.62)

26 (7.22)

0.44

0.27–0.73

0.42

0.25–0.71

Very high risk (9–10)

39 (5.46)

24 (6.67)

0.87

0.50–1.52

0.80

0.44–1.44

Outness towards family doctor

He/she knows

383 (49.68)

43 (11.00)

Ref.

 

Ref.

 

I don’t know or I think he/she knows

154 (19.97)

61 (15.60)

3.53

2.29–5.44

2.98

1.90–4.66

He/she does not know

174 (22.57)

243 (62.15)

12.44

8.59–18.02

10.07

6.86–14.78

I do not have a family doctor

60 (7.78)

44 (11.25)

6.53

3.96–10.78

6.69

3.96–11.29

Outness towards parents

At least one parent knows

575 (84.43)

217 (66.77)

Ref.

 

Ref.

 

Parents do not know

106 (15.57)

108 (33.23)

2.70

1.98–3.68

2.63

1.88–3.67

Outness towards class mates/co-workers

More than half know

428 (56.69)

128 (33.95)

Ref.

 

Ref.

 

Less than half know

327 (43.31)

249 (66.05)

2.55

1.97–3.29

2.43

1.84–3.20

Self-definition

Homosexual/gay/queer

612 (79.27)

226 (57.22)

Ref.

 

Ref.

 

Bisexual

101 (13.08)

128 (32.41)

3.43

2.54–4.64

3.45

2.50–4.77

Heterosexual

2 (0.26)

1 (0.25)

1.35

0.12–15.00

-

 

Other/none

57 (7.38)

40 (10.13)

1.90

1.23–2.93

1.64

1.03–2.61

Intention to get tested in the coming 12 months

Yes

653 (84.48)

121 (30.63)

Ref.

 

Ref.

 

No

120 (15.52)

274 (69.37)

12.32

9.23—16.46

12.68

9.28–17.33

Reasons to decline a free test voucher

Time/distance

93 (27.84)

61 (38.36)

1.61

1.08–2.40

1.23

0.79–1.90

Recent test

160 (47.90)

2 (1.26)

0.01

0.00–0.06

0.02

0.00–0.06

Don’t perceive to be at risk

46 (13.77)

35 (22.01)

1.77

1.09–2.88

1.53

0.91–2.58

No symptoms

37 (11.08)

62 (38.99)

5.13

3.21–8.19

4.59

3.21–8.19

Currently don’t want to know

12 (3.59)

38 (23.90)

8.43

4.26–16.66

7.75

3.81–15.78

Test not in a study context

86 (25.75)

52 (32.70)

1.40

0.93–2.12

1.67

1.08–2.61

Arguments in favour of home/home collection testing

More convenient and less time consuming

516 (88.81)

215 (66.36)

0.25

0.18–0.35

0.24

0.17–0.35

Don’t want others to know that I’m testing for HIV

133 (22.89)

169 (52.16)

3.67

2.74–4.92

3.21

2.35–4.38

Testing is embarrassing

72 (12.39)

101 (31.17)

3.20

2.28–4.50

2.82

1.94–4.08

I don’t want instructions about my sex life

134 (23.06)

104 (32.10)

1.58

1.17–2.13

1.56

1.12–2.16

I don’t need counselling

167 (28.74)

54 (16.67)

0.50

0.35–0.70

0.58

0.40–0.84

Risk management beyond condom use

Risk management beyond condom use

Partner well known

343 (45.61)

128 (34.04)

0.62

0.48–0.80

0.59

0.45–0.77

Undetectable viral load

97 (12.90)

16 (4.26)

0.30

0.17–0.52

0.46

0.26–0.81

Only insertive

316 (42.02)

94 (25.00)

0.46

0.35–0.61

0.54

0.40–0.72

Withdrawal before ejaculation

271 (36.04)

103 (27.39

0.67

0.51–0.88

0.71

0.53–0.95

Partner appears healthy

109 (14.49)

75 (19.95)

1.47

1.06–2.03

1.39

0.98–1.97

Partner tested HIV-negative

293 (38.96)

106 (28.19)

0.62

0.47–0.80

0.54

0.40–0.72

Penis cleaning

166 (22.07)

45 (11.97)

0.48

0.34–0.69

0.47

0.32–0.68

  1. aAdjusted for age and city size
  2. Analyzed sample consists of 1,171 participants with at least 2 cAI-partners in the last 12 months; 775 (66.18 %) were tested for HIV in the last 12 months, 396 (33.82 %) have never been tested for HIV. Outcome: HIV test: in the last 12 months (0); never (1)