Prevalence of HIV and sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections, and related preventive and risk behaviours, among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver: results from the Engage Study.

Objectives: The last Canadian biobehavioural surveillance study of HIV and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBI) among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBM) was conducted in 2010. We designed a study to measure STBBI prevalence among GBM in metropolitan Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver and to document related preventive and risk behaviours.

Methods: The Engage Cohort Study used respondent-driven sampling (RDS) to recruit GBM who reported sex with another man in the past 6 months.

Substance use patterns and awareness of biomedical HIV prevention strategies among sexual and gender minority men in Canada.

Sexual and gender minority men (SGMM) who use drugs are frequently cited as at-risk for HIV. Fortunately, biomedical prevention can greatly reduce transmission, provided individuals are aware of and interested in the uptake of these strategies. We examined associations between substance use patterns and biomedical prevention among SGMM in Canada.

Informing theoretical development of salutogenic, asset-based health improvement to reduce syndemics among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men: Empirical evidence from secondary analysis of multi-national, online cross-sectional surveys.

Globally, gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) experience an increased burden of poor sexual, mental and physical health. Syndemics theory provides a framework to understand comorbidities and health among marginalised populations. Syndemics theory attempts to account for the social, environmental, and other structural contexts that are driving and/or sustaining simultaneous multiple negative health outcomes, but has been widely critiqued.

HIV leadership programming attendance is associated with PrEP and PEP awareness among young, gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men in Vancouver, Canada.

Background: Young gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (YGBM) may have reduced engagement and knowledge of HIV care and biomedical HIV prevention strategies, such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), and Treatment as Prevention (TasP), compared with adult GBM. We sought to understand differences in HIV prevention awareness, health care access, and service utilization between youth (16-29 years) and adult (≥30 year) GBM, as well as factors associated with attendance in HIV leadership programming among YGBM living in the publicly funded PrEP setting of Vancouver, Canada.

Methods: Sexually-active GBM were recruited using respondent-driven sampling (RDS) from February 2012 to February 2015.

Assessing the Impact of a Social Marketing Campaign on Program Outcomes for Users of an Internet-Based Testing Service for Sexually Transmitted and Blood-Borne Infections: Observational Study.

Background: While social marketing (SM) campaigns can be effective in increasing testing for sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs), they are seldom rigorously evaluated and often rely on process measures (eg, Web-based ad click-throughs). With Web-based campaigns for internet-based health services, there is a potential to connect campaign process measures to program outcomes, permitting the assessment of venue-specific yield based on health outcomes (eg, click-throughs per test).

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the impact of an SM campaign by the promotional venue on use and diagnostic test results of the internet-based STBBI testing service GetCheckedOnline.

HIV Testing Among a Representative Community Sample of Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men in Vancouver, Canada.

Earlier HIV diagnosis allows for improved treatment outcomes and secondary prevention. It is recommended that all individuals know their HIV status and that those at higher risk test more frequently. Using a representative community sample of gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM), we aimed to: (1) determine the proportion of GBMSM who have tested in the past 2 years, (2) determine reasons for testing and never having tested, and (3) explore correlates of testing.

Using Geosocial Networking Apps to Understand the Spatial Distribution of Gay and Bisexual Men: Pilot Study.

Background: While services tailored for gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM) may provide support for this vulnerable population, planning access to these services can be difficult due to the unknown spatial distribution of gbMSM outside of gay-centered neighborhoods. This is particularly true since the emergence of geosocial networking apps, which have become a widely used venue for meeting sexual partners.

Objective: The goal of our research was to estimate the spatial density of app users across Metro Vancouver and identify the independent and adjusted neighborhood-level factors that predict app user density.

Substance Use Patterns of Gay and Bisexual Men in the Momentum Health Study.

Research with male sexual minorities frequently combines gay and bisexual men as Men Who Have Sex with Men or Gay and Bisexual Men. When analyzed separately, bisexual men consistently feature negative health differentials, exemplified by higher substance use levels. This interpretation is not clear-cut because studies may combine bisexual men and women, use different dimensions of sexual orientation to define bisexuality, and/or not consider number of sexual partners as a possible confounding factor.

Awareness of, interest in, and willingness to pay for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis among Canadian gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men.

Objectives: Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a highly effective, HIV prevention strategy increasingly being accessed by gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM). GBMSM face structural and individual-level barriers accessing PrEP, including awareness and cost. This paper assesses socio-demographic factors associated with awareness, interest, and willingness to pay for PrEP in a sample of Canadian GBMSM.

Predictors of Facebook User Engagement With Health-Related Content for Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex With Men: Content Analysis.

Background: Social media is used by community-based organizations (CBOs) to promote the well-being of gay and bisexual men (GBM). However, few studies have quantified which factors facilitate the diffusion of health content tailored for sexual minorities.

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify post characteristics that can be leveraged to optimize the health promotion efforts of CBOs on Facebook.

Associations between sexual partner number and HIV risk behaviors: implications for HIV prevention efforts in a Treatment as Prevention (TasP) environment.

Previous research indicates that gay and bisexual men (GBM) have significantly more sexual partners than same-aged heterosexual men and women. As a result, some HIV intervention programs have focused on partner reduction. However, new research findings question the relevance of sexual partner number as a sexual risk measure for GBM given Treatment as Prevention (TasP) programs and new seroadaptive strategies which have led to lower GBM community viral load and new HIV prevention behaviors.

The additive effects of depressive symptoms and polysubstance use on HIV risk among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men.

Introduction: Among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM), collinearity between polysubstance use and mental health concerns has obscured their combined effects on HIV risk with multivariable results often highlighting only one or the other.

Methods: We used mediation and moderation analyses to examine the effects of polysubstance use and depressive symptoms on high-risk sex (i.e.

Trends in Awareness and Use of HIV PrEP Among Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men who have Sex with Men in Vancouver, Canada 2012-2016.

Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM) are at the highest risk for HIV infection in British Columbia (BC). Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has been recently licensed but is currently not publicly funded in BC. Using respondent-driven sampling, we recruited a cohort of gbMSM to complete a computer-assisted self-interview with follow-up every 6 months.

The Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis-Stigma Paradox: Learning from Canada's First Wave of PrEP Users.

With the emergence of daily oral tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and emtricitabine-based pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use in Canada, questions have emerged concerning the impacts of this HIV prevention tool on gay men's social and sexual lives. We conducted small focus groups and individual qualitative interviews with 16 gay men in Toronto who were part of the 'first wave' of Canadian PrEP users. Participants were on PrEP for at least one year as part of a demonstration project (November 2014-June 2016).

Disclosure of Sexual Orientation by Gay and Bisexual Men in Government-Administered Probability Surveys.

Purpose: Researchers are increasingly using national population surveys (NPS) to understand the health of gay and bisexual men (GBM). However, valid inference from these surveys depends on accurate identification of GBM.

Methods: We asked 8126 GBM in an anonymous, online, community-recruited survey about their willingness to reveal their sexual orientation in NPS.

Diagnostic technologies in practice: gay men's narratives of acute or recent HIV infection diagnosis.

Diagnosing HIV-positive gay men through enhanced testing technologies that detect acute HIV infection (AHI) or recent HIV infection provides opportunities for individual and population health benefits. We recruited 25 men in British Columbia who received an acute (n = 13) or recent (n = 12) HIV diagnosis to engage in a longitudinal multiple-methods study over one year or longer. Our thematic analysis of baseline qualitative interviews revealed insights within men's accounts of technologically mediated processes of HIV discovery and diagnosis.

Evidence of a syndemic among young Canadian gay and bisexual men: uncovering the associations between anti-gay experiences, psychosocial issues, and HIV risk.

Syndemic has become an important theoretical model toward understanding how psychosocial issues may interact to increase HIV acquisition among gay and bisexual men. We measured the extent to which anti-gay experiences are associated with psychosocial issues, which in turn were hypothesized to have an additive effect on HIV risk, in a sample of Canadian young gay and bisexual men. Sixty-eight percent of men reported at least one form of anti-gay experience.