HIV prevalence and associated risk factors among young tertiary student men who have sex with men (MSM) in Nairobi, Kenya: a respondent-driven sampling survey

• Published in: AIDS research and therapy Vol. 20; no. 1; p. 7
• Main Authors: Mwaniki, Samuel Waweru, Kaberia, Peter Mwenda, Mugo, Peter Mwangi, Palanee-Phillips, Thesla
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 06.02.2023; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; Adult; AIDS; Anal sex; Anorectal; Antibodies; Central business districts; Chi-square test; College students; College/university students; Condoms; Confidence intervals; Confidentiality; Cross-Sectional Studies; Data analysis; Discount coupons; Disease transmission; Distribution; Gonorrhea; Health aspects; Health risks; HIV; HIV (Viruses); HIV antibodies; HIV infection; HIV Infections - diagnosis; HIV Infections - epidemiology; HIV Infections - prevention & control; HIV prevalence; HIV testing; Homosexuality, Male; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Infection; Infections; Kenya - epidemiology; Laboratories; Male; Medical research; Medical tests; Medicine, Experimental; Men; MSM (Men who have sex with men); Nucleic acids; Polls & surveys; Prevalence; Prevention; Questionnaires; Respondent-driven sampling (RDS); Risk Factors; Sample size; Sampling; Seeds; Sexual and Gender Minorities; Sexual Behavior; Sexually transmitted diseases; Social aspects; Statistical analysis; STD; Surveys; Surveys and Questionnaires; Testing; Young Adult; Young men who have sex with men (YMSM); Kenya; South Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa; Nairobi Kenya; United States > US; Young men who have sex with men (YMSM); Respondent-driven sampling (RDS); HIV prevalence; College/university students; Risk factors
• ISSN: 1742-6405; 1742-6405
• DOI: 10.1186/s12981-023-00502-6

Young men who have sex with men (MSM), are a key population at higher risk of HIV infection yet they are underrepresented in research. We conducted a bio-behavioral survey to estimate HIV prevalence and associated risk factors among tertiary student MSM (TSMSM) in Nairobi, Kenya. Between February and March 2021, 248 TSMSM aged ≥ 18 years who reported sex with another man in the past year participated in a respondent-driven sampling (RDS) based cross-sectional survey. Participants completed an electronically self-administered behavioral survey and provided a blood sample for HIV antibody testing, alongside urine, anorectal and oropharyngeal swabs for pooled testing of sexually transmitted infections using a multiplex nucleic acid amplification test. RDS-Analyst v.0.72 and Stata v.15 software were used for data analysis. Differences in proportions were examined using chi-square (χ ) test, and unweighted multivariate logistic regression was used to assess factors associated with HIV infection. HIV prevalence among study participants was 8.3%, whereas the weighted prevalence was 3.6% (95% CI: 1.3-6.0%). Median ages of participants, and at self-reported first anal sex with a man were 21(interquartile range [IQR] 20-22) and 18 (IQR 17-19) years, respectively. A majority (89.3%) of TSMSM owned a smart phone, 46.5% had ever used a geosocial networking app for MSM such as Grindr ® to find a sex partner, and a third (33.6%) met their last sex partner online.  Almost three-quarters (71.3%) had > 1 male sex partner in the year before the survey. A third (34.3%) did not use condoms with their last sex partner, 21.2% received money from their last sex partner and 40.9% had taken alcohol/another drug during their last sexual encounter. HIV infection was associated with studying in private institutions (adjusted odds ratio[AOR] = 6.0; 95% confidence intervals [CI] : 1.2-30.0, p = 0.027), preferring a sex partner of any age-younger, same or older (AOR = 5.2; 95 CI: 1.1-25.2, p = 0.041), last sex partner being > 25 years (AOR = 6.4; 95% CI: 1.2-34.6, p = 0.030), meeting the last sex partner online (AOR = 4.2; 95% CI; 1.1-17.0, p = 0.043) and testing positive for Neisseria gonorrhea (AOR = 7.8; 95% CI: 2.0-29.9, p = 0.003). HIV prevalence among TSMSM in Nairobi is alarmingly high, demonstrating a need for tailored prevention and control interventions for this young key population.