TABLE 3.
Participant Characteristics Associated With HIV Positivity* Among Black Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex With Men (MSM) in the USHINE Study, Baltimore City, 2018 to 2020 (n = 268)
| Characteristics | Overall (n = 268), n (%) | HIV Positive* (n = 125 [46.6%]), n (%) | HIV Negative (n = 143 [53.4%]), n (%) | P† |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographics | ||||
| Age, y | ||||
| 18–24 | 56 (20.9) | 11 (8.8) | 45 (31.5) | <0.0001 |
| 24–29 | 84 (31.3) | 43 (34.4) | 41 (28.7) | |
| 30–34 | 65 (24.3) | 39 (31.2) | 26 (18.2) | |
| 34–39 | 39 (14.6) | 17 (13.6) | 22 (15.4) | |
| ≥39 | 24 (9.0) | 15 (12.0) | 9 (6.3) | |
| Education (n = 267), ≤high school | 185 (69.0) | 82 (66.1) | 103 (72.0) | 0.297 |
| Employment status, not working‡ | 110 (41.0) | 65 (52.0) | 45 (31.5) | 0.001 |
| Sexual risk behaviors | ||||
| Unprotected anal intercourse, last sex | 117 (43.7) | 61 (48.8) | 56 (39.2) | 0.112 |
| Sex partners, past 3 mo, >3 partners | 82 (30.6) | 38 (30.4) | 44 (30.8) | 0.948 |
| Anonymous sex, past 3 mo | 52 (19.4) | 26 (20.8) | 26 (18.2) | 0.589 |
| Drug risk behaviors | ||||
| Injection drug use, past 3 mo | 9 (3.4) | 7 (5.6) | 2 (1.4) | 0.057 |
| Noninjection drug use, past 3 mo§ | 89 (33.2) | 46 (36.8) | 43 (30.1) | 0.243 |
| Methamphetamine (meth) use, past 3 mo¶ | 41 (15.3) | 33 (36.4) | 8 (5.6) | <0.0001 |
| Nonmeth party drug use (ecstasy, E, Molly, MDMA, GHB, Special K), past 3 mo | 29 (10.8) | 17 (13.6) | 12 (8.4) | 0.171 |
| STI infection status | ||||
| Syphilis positive∥ | 43 (16.0) | 27 (21.6) | 16 (11.2) | 0.021 |
| Gonorrhea and/or chlamydia positive** (n = 227) | 51 (19.0) | 27 (26.2) | 24 (19.4) | 0.218 |
| Sex partner meeting venues, past 3 mo†† | ||||
| Jack'd | 144 (53.7) | 87 (69.6) | 57 (39.9) | <0.0001 |
| Grindr | 97 (36.2) | 47 (37.6) | 50 (35.0) | <0.0001 |
| 61 (22.8) | 43 (34.4) | 32 (22.4) | 0.029 | |
| Adam4Adam | 75 (28.0) | 35 (28.0) | 26 (18.2) | 0.056 |
| 47 (17.5) | 17 (13.6) | 30 (21.0) | 0.113 |
Bold font indicates significance at P < 0.01.
*HIV positive/person living with HIV was defined as a positive HIV rapid test result with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay confirmation at a study visit and/or medical record documentation of a prior positive HIV diagnosis.
†χ2 Test to evaluate significance.
‡Employment defined as not working full-time, part-time, or as self-employed.
§Excluding meth use.
¶Meth use defined as any use of meth use (e.g., crystal, T, Tina, and meth speed) including use before or during sex in the past 3 months.
∥Syphilis positive defined as a reactive rapid plasma reagin titer followed by a reactive treponemal test and reflect active infection; a titer cutoff of greater than or equal to 1:8 was used.
**Gonorrhea and/or chlamydia positive defined as a positive result by a nucleic acid amplification test at any anatomical site.
††Sex partner meeting venues defined as report of any venue including online and physical venues where the participant met a sex partner in the past 3 months and the top 5 reported venues were included.