Risk Factors Related to HIV Transmission in African American Men Who Have Sex with Other Men

Background: HIV infections and diagnoses among African American MSM continue to increase, despite ongoing education and improved access to health care. However, there are limited attempts to understand why African American MSM are more susceptible to acquiring HIV. Purpose: To identify risk factors that lead to a difference in HIV transmission in men who have sex with other men and specifically African American MSM . Methods: An integrative literature review was performed using Cumulative Index of Nursing and Health Literature (CINAHL), PubMed, and ProQuest. Different combinations of text were used in the search including the following key words: HIV or human immunodeficiency virus, transmission, African American, and men who sex with other men. Results: The review found six risk factors that lead to an increase in transmission of HIV in African American MSM. Those include: lower levels of social determinates of health, decrease in HIV disclosure, knowledge of HIV status, prevalence of sexual behavior with other minority men, sexual orientation and race based discrimination, and lack of culturally relevant HIV prevention efforts. Conclusion: Future research should focus interventions to reduce these risk factors that have lead to an increase in transmission of HIV in African American men who have sex with other men