Intentions to seek and accept an HIV test among men of Mexican descent in the Midwestern USA

Abstract

In the USA, a high proportion of men of Mexican descent (MMD) test for HIV late in the course of the infection and miss opportunities for prevention. Given the need to promote timely HIV testing among MMD, we studied how MMD's motivations and previous experiences with disease prevention influence their intentions to seek (i.e., client-initiated HIV testing) and accept (i.e., provider-initiated HIV testing) an HIV test. We conducted a survey (N=302) at a large Mexican festival in the Midwestern USA. We elicited MMD's sexual risk behavior, social norms and culturally supported HIV testing expectations, previous experiences with disease prevention, and their intentions to seek and accept a free HIV test. Forty-one percent of MMD intended to actively seek an HIV test and 70% said they would accept it from a provider. Multivariate analyses indicated that MMD's intentions to seek and intentions to accept an HIV test were stronger when they expected desirable outcomes of an HIV test, including benefits for their family and community. Whereas MMD's intentions to actively seek an HIV test were stronger when they had more previous experiences with disease prevention and normative support, their intentions to accept an HIV test from a provider were stronger when they expected less negative outcomes from testing for HIV (e.g., stigma). Provider-initiated HIV testing may improve HIV testing access, particularly among MMD with lower experience and support. However, efforts to promote provider-initiated HIV testing among MMD should challenge negative HIV testing expectations and associate HIV testing with positive outcomes.