Uptake of oral fluid-based HIV self-testing among men who have sex with men and transgender women in Thailand

PLOS ONE RESEARCH ARTICLE Uptake of oral fluid-based HIV self-testing among men who have sex with men and transgender women in Thailand Philippe Girault ID1☯¤a*, Christina Misa Wong2☯, Siroat Jittjang1☯, Kangwan Fongkaew3☯, Michael M. Cassell4☯¤b, Cheewanan Lertpiriyasuwat5☯, Ravipa Vannakit4☯¤c, Matthew Avery1☯, Danai Linjongrat6‡, Saman Sumalu7‡, Somchai Phromsombat8‡, Nuttakrit Mainoy9‡, Pongpeera Patpeerapong10‡, Phonpiphat Potasin11‡, Pornpichit Brutrat12‡, Stephen Mills1☯, Nittaya Phanuphak13,14☯, Praphan Phanuphak14☯ a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 OPEN ACCESS Citation: Girault P, Misa Wong C, Jittjang S, Fongkaew K, Cassell MM, Lertpiriyasuwat C, et al. (2021) Uptake of oral fluid-based HIV self-testing among men who have sex with men and transgender women in Thailand. PLoS ONE 16(8): e0256094. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0256094 Editor: Peter A Newman, University of Toronto, CANADA Received: December 23, 2020 Accepted: July 30, 2021 Published: August 16, 2021 Copyright: © 2021 Girault et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Data Availability Statement: All relevant data are within the manuscript and its Supporting information files. Funding: The study was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (https://www.usaid.gov/) and U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (https://www.state. gov/pepfar/) as a part of the Linkages across the Continuum of HIV Services for Key Populations Affected by HIV (LINKAGES) project managed by 1 FHI 360, Asia Pacific Regional Office, Bangkok, Thailand, 2 FHI 360, Behavioral, Epidemiological and Clinical Sciences, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America, 3 Burapha University, Chonburi, Thailand, 4 USAID Regional Development Mission for Asia, Bangkok, Thailand, 5 Thai Ministry of Public Health, Nonthaburi, Thailand, 6 Rainbow Sky Association of Thailand, Bangkok, Thailand, 7 Service Workers in Group Foundation, Bangkok, Thailand, 8 The Poz Home Center Foundation, Bangkok, Thailand, 9 Caremat, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 10 Mplus Foundation, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 11 Sister, Pattaya, Thailand, 12 Service Workers in Group Foundation, Pattaya, Thailand, 13 Institute of HIV Research and Innovation, Bangkok, Thailand, 14 Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre, PREVENTION, Bangkok, Thailand ☯ These authors contributed equally to this work. ¤a Current address: Independent Consultant, Toulon, France ¤b Current address: FHI 360, Hanoi, Vietnam ¤c Current address: Independent Researcher, Bangkok, Thailand ‡ DL, SS, SP, NM, PP, PP and PB also contributed equally to this work. * Abstract Background Suboptimal uptake of HIV testing remains a primary bottleneck to HIV prevention and treatment for men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women (TGW) in Thailand. The World Health Organization has recommended HIV self-testing (HIVST) as an additional strategic HIV service. However, HIVST has not been fully endorsed and implemented in many countries in Southeast Asia. The aim of this study was to assess the uptake of oral fluid-based HIVST in MSM and TGW populations in Thailand. Methods During 2017 and 2018, we conducted a cross-sectional study using convenience sampling to enroll 2,524 participants from three major urban areas. Participants were recruited during outreach and online activities and were offered unassisted or assisted HIVST, or referral to HIV testing services. A descriptive analysis was performed for summarizing data. Results A total of 2,502 participants (1,422 MSM and 1,082 TGW) were included in the analysis with about one-third (36.1%) of them being first-time testers. Among all participants enrolled in PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256094 August 16, 2021 1 / 19 PLOS ONE FHI 360 (Cooperative agreement AID-OAA-A-1400045) PG received support in form of salaries from the funding agency through the LINKAGES project (FHI 360) at the time of the conceptualization, methodology, project administration, supervision, and visualization of the study. When writing the initial draft and reviewing the manuscript PG operated a sole proprietorship and received consultancy fees from the funding agencies through the LINKAGES project. KF received consultancy fees from the funding agencies through the LINKAGES project at the time of the methodology, investigation, supervision, and formal analysis of the study. When reviewing the manuscript, KF received no specific funding for this work. MMC was an employee of and received direct support in form of salaries from the funding agency (USAID) at the time of the conceptualization and methodology of the study. When reviewing the manuscript MMC was an employee of FHI 360 and received support in form of salaries from the funding agency through the LINKAGES project. RV was an employee of and received direct support in form of salaries from the funding agency at the time of the conceptualization, methodology and supervision of the study. When reviewing the manuscript RV operated a sole proprietorship and received no specific funding for this work. CMW, SJ, MA, SS, NM, PPa, PB, SM, and NP received support in form of salaries from the funding agency through the LINKAGES project during the development of the study and the review of the manuscript. DL, SP, and PPo received support in form of salaries from the funding agency through the LINKAGES project at the time of the methodology, investigation, and supervision of the study. When reviewing the manuscript, they received no specific funding for this work. PPh and CL received no specific funding for this work. Competing interests: I have read the journal’s policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: MMC was an employee of and received direct support in form of salaries from the funding agency at the time of the conceptualization and methodology of the study. RV was an employee of and received direct support in form of salaries from the funding agency at the time of the conceptualization, methodology and supervision of the study. PG operated a sole proprietorship in France at the time of writing the original draft and reviewing and editing the manuscript and received consultancy fees from the funding agencies through the LINKAGES project. This commercial affiliation does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. RV operated a sole proprietorship in Thailand at the time of reviewing and editing the Uptake of HIV self-testing in Thailand the study, a total of 2,486 participants (99.3%) selected HIVST versus referral to HIV testing services. Of those who selected HIVST, 2,095 (84.3%) opted for assisted HIVST while the rest opted for unassisted HIVST: 1,148 of 1,411 MSM (81.4%) and 947 of 1,075 (...truncated)