Experiences of Transgender Women Who Used a Dual HIV/Syphilis Rapid Self-test to Screen Themselves and Potential Sexual Partners (the SMARTtest Study)
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HIV/syphilis self- and partner-testing may be especially appropriate for transgender women, since they shoulder a disproportionate burden of HIV, other STIs (e.g., syphilis), and report high levels of medical mistrust. The SMARTest study enrolled N = 50 sexual and gender minority individuals. The present analysis aims to understand the experiences (via in-depth interviews) of a subset of n = 11 transgender women who used INSTI Multiplex®, a combination HIV/syphilis rapid self-test, on themselves and potential sex partners. Participants reported that many partners were willing to test, and reported no testing-related violence. Most participants completed tests successfully, though gaining comfort with blood collection took time. There were no HIV-positive tests in this study; one participant and two partners reported a positive syphilis screening. All sought care. Our sample was small and results should be interpreted with caution, but indicate potential future directions for conducting research on self- and partner-testing among transgender women.
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- Authors
- Rael, C. T., Kutner, B. A., Lopez-Rios, J., Lentz, C., Dolezal, C., & Balán, I. C.
- Affiliations
- University of Colorado Anschutz (US)
- New York State Psychiatric Institute (US)
- Florida State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Rael, Christine Tagliaferri
- Venue
- AIDS and Behavior
- Published
- 2021-09-24
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 1229-1237
- ISSN
- 1090-7165 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-3254
- PMC
- PMC9528959
- OpenAlex
- W3201388239
- Cited by
- 10
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2
- FWCI
- 0.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- AIDS and Behavior (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (K01MH115785, K23MH124569, P30MH043520)
- National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD088156)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy
- Keywords
- transgender women, HIV self-testing, syphilis screening, partner testing, sexual and gender minority health, syphilis, blood collection, medical mistrust
- MeSH terms
- Self-Testing, Female, Humans, Male, Sexual Partners, Syphilis, HIV Infections, Trust, Transgender Persons
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