Background: HIV self-testing (HIVST) was recommended to improve HIV testing services. China initiated some of the first HIVST pilots in the world, providing a unique opportunity for implementation research. We aim to investigate HIVST adoption and its following linkage to care among Chinese men who have sex with men (MSM).
Methods: Data were collected using an online questionnaire distributed on major social media platforms in 2018, one year after HIVST was officially endorsed and allowed for sale. MSM who were at least 16 years old, assigned as male at birth, and ever tested for HIV were eligible. Primary outcome, adoption was defined as ever use of HIVST. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regressions were performed to explore the association between HIVST adoption and sociodemographic and behavioral factors. Linkage to care was also described via the following sequential events as indicators: (1) receiving result after recent test (2), seeking care from healthcare facility if test result was positive or indeterminate, and (3) delayed time before seeking care.
Results: A total of 540 participants were included with an average age of 27.4 ± 6.6. Most were never married (87.4%) and half completed college (52.2%). Overall, 75.2% had adopted HIVST. Self-test kits were commonly obtained from community-based organizations (54.4%) and from online (46.6%). HIVST adoption was positively associated with having college or higher education (OR = 1.66, 95%CI: 1.07-2.57), and negatively associated with age older than 30 (AOR = 0.52, 95%CI: 0.32-0.84). Adoption was not associated with other socio-demographic or behavioral factors. After receiving HIV-positive or indeterminate results, 25/25 of HIVST adopters sought care while 3 out of 7 (42.9%) non-adopters sought care (p < 0.001). Delays before seeking care were not significantly different between HIVST adopters compared to non-adopters (P = 0.366).
Conclusion: Many MSM adopted HIVST shortly after its launch. Our findings suggested that HIVST linkage to care is promising among MSM in China. Integration of HIVST with other essential sexual health services is needed.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12879-024-09419-5 | DOI Listing |
JMIR Res Protoc
January 2025
UK Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom.
Background: Due to advances in treatment, HIV is now a chronic condition with near-normal life expectancy. However, people with HIV continue to have a higher burden of mental and physical health conditions and are impacted by wider socioeconomic issues. Positive Voices is a nationally representative series of surveys of people with HIV in the United Kingdom.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHealthcare (Basel)
January 2025
Meco Health Centre, Community of Madrid Health Service (SERMAS), 28880 Madrid, Spain.
The COVID-19 pandemic made people face the fact that we are all vulnerable. This vulnerability can be measured through the Basic Variables of Care (BVC) using the Care Vulnerability Index (CVI). Health systems work with indicators that nurses can consult to understand the care and health situation of their population.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiol Direct
January 2025
Key Laboratory of Geriatrics of Jiangsu Province, Department of Geriatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 300 Guangzhou Road, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu, China.
Background: Despite the increasing body of evidence that mitochondrial activities implicate in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), we are still far from a causal-logical and mechanistic understanding of the mitochondrial malfunctions in COPD pathogenesis.
Results: Differential expression genes (DEGs) from six publicly available bulk human lung tissue transcriptomic datasets of COPD patients were intersected with the known mitochondria-related genes from MitoCarta3.0 to obtain mitochondria-related DEGs associated with COPD (MitoDEGs).
BMJ Health Care Inform
January 2025
College of Medicine and Veterinary Medic, The University of Edinburgh Usher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics, Edinburgh, UK.
Aim: We aimed to identify enablers and barriers of using primary care routine data for healthcare research, to formulate recommendations for improving efficiency in knowledge discovery.
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Int J Biol Macromol
January 2025
State Key Laboratory of New Textile Materials and Advanced Processing Technologies, School of Textile Science and Engineering, Wuhan Textile University, Wuhan 430200, China. Electronic address:
Conductive hydrogel has drawn great concern in wearable sensors, human-machine interfaces, artificial intelligence (AI), health monitoring, et al. But it still remains challenge to develop hydrogel through facile and sustainable methods. In this work, a conductive, flexible, bendable, and self-healing hydrogel (PBCM) composed of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), borax, cellulose microfibers (CMFs), and MXene nanosheet was fabricated by a simple and efficient strategy.
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