Development of an Agent-Based Model to Investigate the Impact of HIV Self-Testing Programs on Men Who Have Sex With Men in Atlanta and Seattle (Preprint)

Abstract

Background: Men who have sex with men (MSM) remain the most heavily impacted group in the US HIV epidemic. Prevention science is increasingly organized around HIV testing as a launch point into an HIV prevention continuum for MSM who are not living with HIV and into an HIV care continuum for MSM who are living with HIV. Increasing HIV testing frequency among MSM might reduce future HIV infections by linking men who are living with HIV to ARV care, resulting in viral suppression. Distributing HIV self-test kits is a strategy to increase HIV testing. Our previous modeling work suggests that the impact of HIV self-tests (HIVST) on transmission dynamics will depend not only on the frequency of the tests and the tester's behavior, but also on epidemiologic and testing characteristics of the population as well.