Coverage rate of peer education and influencing factors in men who have sex with men in Beijing

  Objective  To understand the utilization of peer education and the related factors of peer education in men who have sex with men (MSM).

  Methods  Respondent-driven sampling tool was used to recruit 600 MSM for a face to face interview with structured questionnaire and HIV test. The factors affecting the peer education were analyzed by logistic regression model of complex sampling.

  Results  The average age of the MSM was (41.50±11.20) years. In the past one year, the coverage rate of peer education was 69.71% (95% CI: 64.96%–74.46%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that the significant factors associated with the coverage rate included self-assessed risk for HIV infection (The coverage rate was 2.28 times higher in those who believed to have no risk or at low risk for HIV infection than in those with high self-assessed risk ［95% CI: 1.08–4.84］), condom use in last anal sex (The coverage rate in those who used condom in last anal sex were 2.08 times higher than those using no condoms ［95% CI: 1.07–4.04］). HIV test in last year (The coverage rate were 38.32 times higher in those received HIV test in last year than in those received no HIV test in last year ［95% CI: 20.38–72.06］) and sexually transmitted diseases（STD）history (The coverage rate was 2.52 times higher in those with STD history than in those without STD history ［95% CI: 1.03–6.22］).

  Conclusion  Peer education was highly accepted by MSM. In the future, cooperation with MSM volunteers should be strengthened and the form and content of peer education should be enriched. It’s necessary to pay more attention to MSM at high risk for sexual behaviors.