UC Irvine

Expanded access to HIV self-testing has the potential to increase the number of young adult African American men who have sex with men (MSM) who are regularly aware of their HIV status (Krause, Subklew-Sehume, Kenyon, & Colebunders, 2013; Marlin et al., 2014). Because African American MSM communities have the highest HIV risk rate of all risk groups, regular testing behaviors are essential for HIV prevention (McNairy & El-Sadr, 2014; Young et al., 2015). Yet, stigma toward HIV has been shown to be particularly high in these communities, which in turn decreases willingness to test for HIV (Earnshaw, Bogart, Dovidio, & Williams, 2013; Mahajan et al., 2008). Advances in HIV testing, including self-testing, may reduce HIV stigma by making the testing experience private and self-controlled (Sharma, Stephenson, White, & Sullivan, 2014; Stephenson, White, Darbes, Hoff, & Sullivan, 2014); however, the ability to make testing private may be difficult for young adults who live with family. Therefore, we explored the feasibility of HIV self-testing at home by conducting focus groups with young adult African American MSM who live in Los Angeles County.