The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #40867

Richard J. Wolitski, PhD¹, Stephen Flores, PhD¹, Caroline Bailey, MA¹, Cynthia A. Gomez, PhD², and David Bimbi³. (1) BIRB, DHAP, NCHSTP, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road (E-37), Atlanta, GA 30333, 404 639-1939, rwolitski@cdc.gov, (2) Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University of California - San Francisco, 74 New Montgomery Street, Suite 400, San Francisco, CA 94105, (3) CHEST, City University of New York, Hunter College, 250 West 26th Street, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10001

Qualitative research suggests that perceived responsibility motivates the adoption and maintenance of safer sex practices among HIV-seropositive men who have sex with men (MSM). We report the development of a psychometrically sound scale to measure HIV-seropositive MSMs’ beliefs about their responsibility to protect sex partners from HIV infection and examine the association between perceived responsibility and risk of HIV transmission. HIV-seropositive MSM (N=1,163) were recruited from community venues in New York City and San Francisco to participate in an intervention trial. Participants completed a pre-intervention A-CASI interview on sexual and drug-use practices, condom beliefs, serostatus disclosure, and physical and mental health. A six-item Likert scale (1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree) measured beliefs about their responsibility for preventing HIV transmission (alpha=.85). The majority of participants were White (46%), African American (28%) or Latino (17%), and ranged in age from 20 to 89 (M=41, SD=7.9). Most HIV-seropositive MSM believed that they have a special responsibility to protect their sex partners from HIV infection (M=4.1, SD=.71). Perceived responsibility was associated with reduced risk of unprotected insertive anal intercourse (OR=.57, 95% CI=.48 to .69), unprotected receptive anal intercourse (OR=.58, 95% CI=.49 to .70), and unprotected insertive oral intercourse (OR=.66, 95% CI=.56, .79) with non-seropositive partners. This quantitative study confirms that self-perceived responsibility is an important factor influencing HIV-seropositive men’s safer sex decisions. Strategies to promote personal responsibility should be incorporated into prevention and service programs for people living with HIV.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe HIV-seropositive MSM's beliefs about their personal responsibility to protect sex partners from HIV infection.
• Identify at least three factors that are associated with perceived responsibility.
• Discuss the relation between perceived responsibility and the risk of HIV transmission to uninfected partners.

Keywords: HIV Risk Behavior, Prevention

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.