Bringing HIV/STI testing programmes to high-risk men

The aim of this study was to examine the meaning of significantly higher proportions of positive test results through outreach HIV/sexually transmitted infection testing programmes at gay bathhouses compared with clinic programmes among high-risk men who have sex with men. We conducted a random digit dial survey of men who have sex with men in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco. Half of the men in the sample did not test in the past year. Among those who did not test, a sizeable minority (17%) reported engaging in high-risk sexual behaviour with a casual or secondary partner. Over half of these non-testing, high-risk men went to bathhouses. These findings strongly support the potential value of locating outreach-testing programmes in bathhouses. Although further studies are necessary, such programmes have the potential to increase testing among the high-risk segment of the population. This is particularly noteworthy given that many men among those who do not test regularly engage in high-risk behaviours.