Changes in the profile of newly HIV-diagnosed men who have sex with men, Madrid, 2014 to 2019

Abstract

Introduction Knowing the factors associated with HIV transmission is necessary in order to design preventive programmes tailored to the epidemiological situation in each region and population. Aim Our objective was to study the sociodemographic, clinical and behavioural characteristics of men who have sex with men (MSM) who were newly diagnosed with HIV infection. Methods We carried out an observational, descriptive, study on all MSM newly diagnosed with HIV infection in one clinic for sexually transmitted infections (STI) and HIV clinic in Madrid between 2014 and 2019. Information on sociodemographic, clinical, and behavioural characteristics of participants per year of diagnosis was collected. Results We detected a total of 1,398 people with HIV infection, 253 of whom were recent seroconverters (rSCV) with a median duration of documented seroconversion of 6 months. From the total, 97.9% infections were sexually transmitted and 2.1% involved injected drugs, i.e. slam practices. The average age was 32.9 years (range: 15.6–74.9), 51.8% were Spanish and 40% Latin American. These diagnoses decreased in Spanish people and increased in Latin Americans during the study period. Of the rSCV, 73.9% had condomless sex under the influence of drugs and 28.9% participated in chemsex sessions. Apps were used by 92.6% rSCV for sexual encounters and 70.4% of them attributed HIV transmission to their use. Conclusions Combination of HIV prevention strategies, as pre-exposure prophylaxis, should be reinforced among young MSM, especially those born in Latin America, those who use drugs for sex, and those who use apps in search of sexual contacts.