Knowledge of Network Members\u27 HIV Status Among Young Men who have Sex with Men in Chicago and Houston

Background: For People Living With HIV (PLWH), disclosing their HIV serostatus to their partners is one of the most stressful issues they need to handle. This study examined of pairs among young men who have sex with men (MSM) to analyze their disclosing behavior based on social network analysis. Methods: This study used YMAP (Young Men’s Affiliation Project) data. MSM aged 16-29 year old were collected by the respondent-driven sampling method. Data were collected from December 2014 to June 2016. 747 young MSM (average age: 24.5 years, SD=2.9) from Chicago, IL (372:49.8%) and Houston, TX (375; 50.2%), and their 2035 social and/or sexual partner pairs were analyzed. A Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) modeling analysis was conducted based on the respondents’ perceptions of their partners’ HIV serostatus. Results: 27.8% of the respondents were HIV seropositive. 9.4% of their partners were both sexually and socially connected partners (overlapped network status). By a GEE modeling analysis, it was proved that respondents’ who is HIV positive and overlapped network status are more likely to perceive that their partners were HIV positive (p\u3c0.05). Absolute age difference and race match between a respondent and his partner were not the factors that contributed to increasing respondents’ perception of their partners’ HIV serostatus in all models. Conclusion: To conclude, this study proved the association between overlapped partnership and knowledge of the partner’s HIV serostatus among young MSM. A couple counseling and a testing among sexual partners can be an effective prevention for HIV infection without perceiving partner’s HIV serostatus