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Background: Young gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) are at high risk for sexually transmitted infections, including human papillomavirus (HPV). Quadrivalent HPV vaccine is approved for males aged 9–26.
Objectives: To determine whether delivering HPV vaccine in healthcare settings would reach young MSM, we described healthcare use among this population.
Methods: We analyzed data from the 2008 National HIV Behavioral Surveillance System (NHBS), an anonymous cross-sectional survey of men recruited using time-space sampling at venues where MSM congregate in 21 U.S. cities. We included men aged 18–26 who reported a male sex partner in the past 12 months, identified as gay or bisexual, or both. We assessed the association between healthcare use (≥1 visit to a healthcare provider within 12 months) and demographics, insurance status, HIV test results, and disclosure of same-sex attraction/behavior (being out). We conducted multivariate analysis, computing odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to identify factors associated with healthcare use.
Results: We included 2941 young men: 2898 (98.5%) reported a male sex partner in the past year, 2245 (76.3%) identified as gay, and 643 (21.9%) identified as bisexual. In total, 2612 (88.8%) reported healthcare use in the past year, 2716 (92.3%) were out to ≥1 person, and 1802 (61.3%) were out to a healthcare provider. Factors significantly associated with healthcare use included previously testing positive for HIV (OR=4.6, CI=1.7–12.5), identifying as gay (OR=3.9, CI=2.1–7.2), having health insurance (OR=2.5, CI=1.9–3.2), and completing high school (OR=1.9, CI=1.3–2.8).
Conclusions: Most young gay, bisexual, and other MSM had recently accessed healthcare. Furthermore, being out to a healthcare provider was common.
Implications for Programs, Policy, and Research: Although ideally HPV vaccine should be administered before sexual debut, these data suggest that targeting HPV vaccine through clinical healthcare providers could reach many young MSM.