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 And almost half the teens didn't know where they could go to be
tested for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, researchers found.
"It’s important for all teens to get tested if they're sexually
active, but it’s especially important for young gay and bisexual men
to be tested because they're at such an increased risk of
transmission," said lead author Brian Mustanski, of Northwestern
University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends
routine annual HIV screening for everyone between the ages of 13 and
64, and more frequent testing for those at an increased risk.
Recent research suggests that testing rates among young adults are
low, and that gay and bisexual men may misjudge their risk of
becoming infected with HIV (see Reuters Health story of Oct. 2, 2014
here: http://reut.rs/1yAOvmy).
Little is known, however, about the screening habits of teenage gay
and bisexual men, Mustanski told Reuters Health.
The new findings, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, are
based on data from 302 gay and bisexual males, ages 14 to 18, who
were mostly recruited through ads on Facebook.
"We did a brief phone call with them to make sure they were
appropriate for the study," Mustanski said. "We had them fill out
questionnaires at the beginning."
Overall, about 20 percent of the young men reported ever being
tested for HIV. The testing rate was slightly higher, at 30 percent,
among the sexually active teens.
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Teens were more likely to report being tested for HIV if they knew
where to be screened, but only about 43 percent of participants knew
of a testing location.
About a third of participants also reported stigma as a reason to
forgo testing. For example, they do not want others knowing they
were tested.
About a third also believed they are not at risk for HIV infection.
Mustanski said rates of HIV screening are likely low for all teens.
"So it’s not just unique to gay and bisexual young men," he said.
But that group is among the most at risk for infection.
Mustanski added that there are services available to help young
people find HIV screening locations in their areas, like the
GetTested program from the CDC (https://gettested.cdc.gov/).
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1MVaRWr Journal of Adolescent Health, online
August 26, 2015.
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