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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2006.085886v1 97/7/1209    most recent Submit a response Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kacanek, D. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kacanek, D. Related Collections Access to Care HIV/AIDS Men's Health Qualitative Research Urban Health

Deborah Kacanek, ScD, Gloria D. Eldridge, PhD, Jill Nealey-Moore, PhD, Robin J. MacGowan, MPH, Diane Binson, PhD, Timothy P. Flanigan, MD, Christine C. Fitzgerald, MPH, James M. Sosman, MD The Project Start Study Group

At the time of the study, Deborah Kacanek and Christine C. Fitzgerald were with Brown Medical School, Providence, RI, and The Miriam Hospital, Providence. Gloria D. Eldridge is with the University of Alaska Anchorage, Anchorage. Jill Nealey-Moore is with the University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Wash. Robin J. MacGowan is with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga. Diane Binson is with the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University of California, San Francisco. Timothy P. Flanigan is with Brown Medical School, Providence, and The Miriam Hospital, Providence. James M. Sosman is with the School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Dr Deborah Kacanek, Ibis Reproductive Health, 17 Dunster Street, Suite 201, Cambridge, MA 02138 (e-mail: dkacanek{at}ibisreproductivehealth.org).

We analyzed incarcerated men’s perceptions of and experiences with HIV testing. Interviews were conducted with 105 men, aged 18 to 29 years, in 4 states. Most men had received an HIV test while incarcerated because it was convenient or free or because they thought it was mandatory. At most sites, men believed they were HIV-negative because they never received test results. Some men did not know the diseases for which they had been tested. Some men avoided HIV testing outside prison because they lacked time, lacked resources, feared knowing the results, or perceived themselves to not be at risk.

HIV testing programs for young men inside or outside prison should address barriers to HIV testing, communicate the meaning and extent of testing, and improve notification of those with HIV-negative results.