A Rapid Qualitative Assessment of the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on a Racially/Ethnically Diverse Sample of Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men who Have Sex with Men Living with HIV in the US South

• Published in: AIDS and behavior Vol. 25; no. 1; pp. 58 - 67
• Main Authors: Rhodes, Scott D., Mann-Jackson, Lilli, Alonzo, Jorge, Garcia, Manuel, Tanner, Amanda E., Smart, Benjamin D., Horridge, Danielle N., Van Dam, Cornelius N., Wilkin, Aimee M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.01.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Action research; Adult; Bisexuality; Bisexuality - ethnology; Bisexuality - psychology; Blacks; Cisgender; Community involvement; Community participation; Community research; Community-Based Participatory Research; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 - psychology; Gays & lesbians; Health behavior; Health care access; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Health Psychology; Health services; Hispanic Americans; Hispanic or Latino; HIV; HIV Infections - drug therapy; HIV Infections - epidemiology; HIV Infections - psychology; Homosexuality; Homosexuality, Male - ethnology; Homosexuality, Male - psychology; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Impact analysis; Infectious Diseases; Information sources; Interviews as Topic; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Men; Men who have sex with men; Mens health; Multiculturalism & pluralism; North Carolina - epidemiology; Original Paper; Pandemics; Public Health; Qualitative Research; SARS-CoV-2; Sexually transmitted diseases; Social behavior; Social interactions; Social isolation; STD; Whites; North Carolina; COVID-19; Sexual minority; Disparities; HIV; Qualitative
• ISSN: 1090-7165; 1573-3254; 1573-3254
• DOI: 10.1007/s10461-020-03014-w

Persons living with HIV (PLWH) may be at increased risk for severe COVID-19-related illness. Our community-based participatory research partnership collected and analyzed semi-structured interview data to understand the early impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on a sample of racially/ethnically diverse gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men living with HIV. Fifteen cisgender men participated; their mean age was 28. Six participants were Black/African American, five were Spanish-speaking Latinx, and four were White. Seventeen themes emerged that were categorized into six domains: knowledge and perceptions of COVID-19; COVID-19 information sources and perceptions of trustworthiness; impact of COVID-19 on behaviors, health, and social determinants of health; and general COVID-19-related concerns. Interventions are needed to ensure that PLWH have updated information and adhere to medication regimens, and to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on social isolation, economic stability, healthcare access, and other social determinants of health within this vulnerable population.