Prevalence, associated factors and perspectives of HIV testing among men in Uganda

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Date
2020Author
Nangendo, Joanita
Katahoire, Anne R.
Armstrong-Hough, Mari
Kabami, Jane
Odei Obeng-Amoako, Gloria
Muwema, Mercy
Semitala, Fred C.
Karamagi, Charles A.
Wanyenze, Rhoda K.
Kamya, Moses R.
Kalyango, Joan N.
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Show full item recordAbstract
Despite overall increase in HIV testing, more men than women remain untested. In 2018,
92% of Ugandan women but only 67% of men had tested for HIV. Understanding men’s
needs and concerns for testing could guide delivery of HIV testing services (HTS) to them.
We assessed the prevalence of testing, associated factors and men’s perspectives on HIV
testing in urban and peri-urban communities in Central Uganda.
Methods and findings
We conducted a parallel-convergent mixed-methods study among men in Kampala and
Mpigi districts from August to September 2018. Using two-stage sampling, we selected
1340 men from Mpigi. We administered a structured questionnaire to collect data on HIV
testing history, socio-demographics, self-reported HIV risk-related behaviors, barriers and
facilitators to HIV testing. We also conducted 10 focus-groups with men from both districts
to learn their perspectives on HIV testing. We used modified Poisson regression to assess
factors associated with HIV testing and inductive thematic analysis to identify barriers and
facilitators.
Though 84.0% of men reported having tested for HIV, only 65.7% had tested in the past
12-months despite nearly all (96.7%) engaging in at least one HIV risk-related behavior.
Men were more likely to have tested if aged 25–49 years, Catholic, with secondary or higher
education and circumcised. Being married was associated with ever-testing while being widowed
or divorced was associated with testing in past 12-months.
URI
https://doi.org/ 10.1371/journal.pone.0237402https://nru.uncst.go.ug/xmlui/handle/123456789/1850
Collections
- Medical and Health Sciences [3718]