Do the same socio-demographic variables predict testing uptake and sero-status? HIV and syphilis among an observational sample of Chinese men who have sex with men in Shanghai, China

Abstract

HIV and syphilis are pronounced among men who have sex with men (MSM) in China and often occur as co-infections, while testing remains low. Few studies examine common predictors across these outcomes. This observational venue-based sample of 546 MSM in Shanghai, China used a common set of psychosocial predictors to construct logistic models for the outcomes (HIV non-testing, syphilis non-testing, HIV sero-status, and syphilis sero-status). Fifty-seven (10.7%) participants tested positive for HIV, 126 (23.5%) for syphilis, and 33% of HIV-positive participants had a co-infection. Non-sex working MSM had consistently higher odds of HIV and syphilis non-testing (OR= 2.2, 95% CI 1.4–3.5, p <  0.001; OR = 2.4, 95, 95% CI 1.5–3.8, p <  0.001, respectively) compared to ‘money boy’ sex workers. Participants with a 0 score on HIV knowledge had 4.1 times (95% CI 1.4–12.5, p =  0.01) the odds of reporting HIV non-testing, 6.0 (95% CI 1.96–18.5, p <  0.01) times the odds of reporting non-testing for syphilis, and 8.44 times (95% CI 1.19–59.7, p =  0.03) the odds of testing positive for HIV, compared to a score of 8. The results highlighted the importance of integrating HIV/syphilis education and promoting testing for both HIV and syphilis among all sub-groups of MSM in China.