Table 1.
Background characteristics of the participants.
| All (n = 350) |
New-Users of HIVST-Online (n = 228) | Ever-Users of HIVST-Online (n = 122) | p-Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | ||
| Socio-demographic characteristics | ||||
| Age group (years) | ||||
| 18–30 | 57.1 | 54.4 | 62.3 | |
| 31–40 | 31.4 | 34.6 | 25.4 | |
| >40 | 11.4 | 11.0 | 12.3 | 0.21 |
| Marital/cohabitation status | ||||
| Currently single | 83.1 | 79.4 | 90.2 | |
| Cohabitate/married with a man | 16.6 | 20.6 | 9.0 | |
| Cohabited/married with a woman | 0.3 | 0 | 0.8 | 0.01 |
| Highest education level attained | ||||
| Secondary or below | 13.4 | 12.7 | 14.8 | |
| College or above | 86.6 | 87.3 | 85.2 | 0.60 |
| Current employment status | ||||
| Full-time | 84.3 | 86.0 | 81.1 | |
| Part-time/unemployed/retired/student | 15.7 | 14.0 | 18.9 | 0.24 |
| Sexual orientation | ||||
| Gay | 93.1 | 93.4 | 92.6 | |
| Bisexual | 6.3 | 5.7 | 7.4 | |
| Heterosexual | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0 | 0.49 |
| History of sexually transmitted infection | ||||
| No | 79.1 | 74.1 | 87.7 | |
| Yes | 20.9 | 25.4 | 12.3 | 0.004 |
| HIV testing history | ||||
| No. of HIV testing in the past 3 years in addition to HIVST-online | ||||
| 0 | 17.4 | 16.2 | 19.7 | |
| 1–3 | 44.0 | 38.6 | 54.1 | |
| >3 | 38.6 | 45.2 | 26.2 | 0.002 |
| Sexual behaviors in the last 3 months | ||||
| Anal intercourse with regular male sex partner(s) (RP) | ||||
| No | 30.0 | 25.9 | 36.9 | |
| Yes | 70.0 | 74.1 | 62.3 | 0.02 |
| Anal intercourse with non-regular male sex partner(s) (NRP) | ||||
| No | 54.6 | 57.0 | 50.0 | |
| Yes | 45.1 | 43.0 | 49.2 | 0.24 |
| Condomless anal intercourse (CAI) with men | ||||
| No | 54.9 | 57.0 | 50.8 | |
| Yes | 35.1 | 34.6 | 36.1 | 0.52 |
| Multiple male sex partnerships | ||||
| No | 56.3 | 59.2 | 50.8 | |
| Yes | 43.7 | 40.8 | 49.2 | 0.13 |
| Illicit drug use before/during anal intercourse with men | ||||
| No | 96.6 | 96.5 | 96.7 | |
| Yes | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.3 | 0.91 |
| Perceptions related to HIV testing | ||||
| Behavioral intention to use free HIVST with real-time counseling services in the coming 6 months | ||||
| Unlikely/neutral | 25.7 | 26.3 | 24.6 | |
| Likely | 74.3 | 73.7 | 75.4 | 0.73 |
| Perceived logistical benefits of HIVST (% agree/strongly agree) | ||||
| HIVST is easy for you to use | 76.0 | 74.1 | 79.5 | |
| HIVST is convenient for you | 82.3 | 81.6 | 83.6 | |
| Perceived Logistical Benefit Scale 1 (Mean/SD) | 8.1/1.6 | 7.9/1.5 | 8.4/1.8 | 0.01 |
| Perceived psychological benefits of HIVST (% agree/strongly agree) | ||||
| Using HIVST could reduce embarrassment | 79.1 | 77.6 | 82.0 | |
| Using HIVST could avoid being stigmatized by service providers | 50.0 | 42.5 | 63.9 | |
| Using HIVST could protect your privacy | 84.0 | 82.0 | 87.7 | |
| Perceived Psychological Benefit Scale 2 (Mean/SD) | 11.5/2.6 | 10.9/2.6 | 12.4/2.4 | <0.001 |
| Perceived logistical barriers of HIVST (% agree/strongly agree) | ||||
| HIVST is expensive for you | 57.1 | 59.6 | 52.5 | |
| It is difficult for you to buy a HIVST kit | 54.0 | 51.8 | 58.2 | |
| You do not know how to choose a reliable HIVST kit | 70.0 | 69.3 | 71.3 | |
| You are concerned about the accuracy of HIVST | 53.4 | 57.9 | 45.1 | |
| Perceived Logistical Barrier Scale 3 (Mean/SD) | 14.0/3.2 | 13.9/3.2 | 14.2/3.2 | 0.33 |
| Perceived psychological barrier of HIVST (% agree/strongly agree) | ||||
| You are not psychologically prepared to perform HIVST | 19.4 | 17.1 | 23.8 | |
| You are concerned about not understanding the HIVST results | 13.1 | 13.2 | 13.1 | |
| You cannot receive immediate psychological support if you have a positive HIVST result | 40.3 | 35.1 | 50.0 | |
| You cannot access the HIV treatment and care services if you have a positive HIVST result | 27.1 | 24.6 | 32.0 | |
| Perceived Psychological Barrier Scale 4 (Mean/SD) | 10.6/3.1 | 10.0/3.1 | 11.6/2.7 | <0.001 |
| Cue to action related to HIVST (% agree/strongly agree) | ||||
| Significant others will support you to do HIVST | 70.3 | 68.4 | 73.8 | |
| Male sex partner will support you to do HIVST | 78.9 | 79.4 | 77.9 | |
| Cue to Action Scale 5 (Mean/SD) | 7.9/1.6 | 7.8/1.5 | 8.1/1.9 | 0.05 |
| Perceived self-efficacy related to HIVST (% agree/strongly agree) | ||||
| You are confident to obtain a high-quality HIVST kit | 38.0 | 39.9 | 34.4 | |
| You are confident to use HIVST kits properly | 74.0 | 73.7 | 74.6 | |
| You are confident to understand the HIVST results | 78.6 | 79.4 | 77.0 | |
| You are confident to receive confirmatory testing after obtaining a positive HIVST result | 78.3 | 80.7 | 73.8 | |
| Perceived Self-efficacy Scale 6 (Mean/SD) | 14.8/2.4 | 14.8/2.4 | 14.9/2.4 | 0.63 |
| Perceived importance of real-time counseling service supporting HIVST users | ||||
| Very unimportant/ unimportant/neutral | 36.0 | 38.6 | 31.1 | |
| Important/very important | 64.0 | 61.4 | 68.9 | 0.17 |
p-values were obtained using the X2 test (for categorical variables) or independent-sample t-tests (for continuous variables); 1 Perceived Logistical Benefit Scale, two items, Cronbach’s alpha = 0.89, one factor was identified by the exploratory factor analysis, explaining 89.9% of total variance; 2 Perceived Psychological Benefit Scale, three items, Cronbach’s alpha = 0.72, one factor was identified by the exploratory factor analysis, explaining 66% of total variance; 3 Perceived Logistical Barrier Scale, four items, Cronbach’s alpha = 0.67, one factor was identified by the exploratory factor analysis, explaining 51.4% of total variance; 4 Perceived Psychological Barrier Scale, four items, Cronbach’s alpha = 0.64, one factor was identified by the exploratory factor analysis, explaining 48.3% of total variance; 5 Cue to Action Scale, two items, Cronbach’s alpha = 0.84, one factor was identified by the exploratory factor analysis, explaining 86.6% of total variance; 6 Perceived Self-efficacy Scale, four items, Cronbach’s alpha = 0.67, one factor was identified by the exploratory factor analysis, explaining 53.4% of total variance.