Open AccessTransgender Women’s Experiences Using a Home HIV-Testing Kit for Partner-Testing
Author(s) -
Christine Tagliaferri Rael,
Rebecca Giguere,
Javier López-Rios,
Cody Lentz,
Ivan C. Balán,
Alan Z. Sheinfil,
Curtis Dolezal,
William Brown,
Timothy Frasca,
Catherine Cruz Torres,
Raynier Crespo,
Sarah J. Iribarren,
Cheng-Shiun Leu,
Irma Febo,
Alex CarballoDiéguez
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
aids and behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.994
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1573-3254
pISSN - 1090-7165
DOI - 10.1007/s10461-020-02829-x
Subject(s) - health psychology , transgender women , transgender , test (biology) , intervention (counseling) , medicine , clinical psychology , sex work , public health , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , psychology , family medicine , men who have sex with men , nursing , paleontology , syphilis , psychoanalysis , biology
HIV partner-testing (PT) may represent a unique and empowering HIV prevention strategy for groups that face structural and institutional barriers to HIV testing and care, including transgender women. We report on in-depth interviews (IDIs) with N = 10 transgender women who used HIV self-test kits for three months to screen potential sexual partners in a randomized controlled trial (iSUM; "I'll Show You Mine") that took place in New York City and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Participants were assigned to intervention (supplied with 10 self-test kits immediately) or control groups (received 6 test kits after 3 months). We conducted IDIs with the first N = 10 transgender women to enroll in the intervention group after three months in the study (after participants used kits with partners) to understand their experiences. Themes discussed in IDIs included: partners' reaction to HIV testing, participants' reactions to partners' test results or refusal to test, partners' own reaction to their test results, and decision-making around test use. Data were independently analyzed by two coders. Overwhelmingly, participants' experiences with PT was positive. Participants reported kits were convenient and acceptable to most partners. Transgender women felt that PT could pose additional risk for them; one woman experienced violence related to kit use. Furthermore, the availability of kits appeared to encourage participants and their partners to think about their HIV status and, in some cases, modify sexual behavior. Work suggests that HIV PT could be a viable risk-reduction strategy for transgender women.