Socio-demographic and behavioral factors influencing the utilization of community-post interventions for HIV testing services by men (>=18 years) in Kericho County, Kenya

Men continue to test for HIV less often than women in many settings, including Kenya. Community-based HIV testing may reduce access barriers, but evidence on factors associated with mens use of community-post services remains limited. This analytical cross-sectional mixed-methods study examined socio-demographic and behavioral factors associated with use of community posts for HIV testing among adult men in Kericho County, Kenya. Quantitative data were collected using self-administered questionnaires at two community posts and two facility-based Comprehensive Care Centres. The Kobo export contained 438 questionnaire records; 41 pretest records were excluded in line with the study protocol, leaving 397 records for analysis. Community-post use in the preceding year was reported by 208 of 396 respondents with complete outcome data (52.5%). In adjusted analysis, community-post use was higher among employed men (AOR 2.94, 95% CI 1.48-5.82; p=0.002) and men engaged in business (AOR 2.56, 95% CI 1.15-5.69; p=0.021) than among unemployed/other men. Age, marital status, religion, education and monthly income were not independently associated with community-post use. In the behavioral model, respondents who were unwilling or unsure about participating in future community HIV-testing campaigns had lower odds of community-post use (AOR 0.20, 95% CI 0.10-0.39; p<0.001). Frequent travel or migration (AOR 0.19, 95% CI 0.06-0.65; p=0.008) and unprotected sex (AOR 0.54, 95% CI 0.34-0.87; p=0.012) were also associated with lower odds of community-post use after adjustment. These findings identify occupational and selected behavioral factors associated with community-post use among the men studied; the cross-sectional design does not establish causality.