Who attends a free sexual health center in Paris for HIV/STI screening? an observational study

A key-population approach to sexually transmitted disease prevention does not fully take into account the multidimensional nature of sexual risk behavior. Visits to sexual health centers for HIV/STI screening provide an opportunity to spread prevention messages and tools, but few data are available on patients' sexual and prevention behaviors. This study aimed to identify the profile of patients consulting for HIV/STI testing in a Parisian sexual health center.

This observational study included 5,130 patients who attended the center for HIV/STI testing from August 2017 through January 2020 and completed a self-administered electronic questionnaire. Data were obtained from the consultation database and the questionnaire. The data included STI results, sociodemographic characteristics, sexual and prevention behaviors, as well as HIV knowledge. To identify homogeneous groups of patients regarding sexual risky behavior, we conducted a mixed approach including both a priori classification and agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC) based on multiple correspondence analysis (MCA). Sexual behaviors and substance use were included in the MCA.

Median age of patients was 26 years [Q1-Q3:23-32]. Seven clusters of patients were identified. Two clusters had a high HIV/STI positivity rate (15-19%) with very different profiles: cluster 1 included socially disadvantaged patients who had no health insurance and cluster 5 included 89% of men who have sex with men. Two clusters had an HIV/STI positivity rate corresponding to that observed in the overall study population (10-11%) but exhibited risky behaviors (cluster 7 with a high frequency of unprotected sexual intercourse, substance use, cannabis use and weekly binge drinking) or lack of knowledge on HIV (cluster 6 including 100% of patients having transactional sex).

The multidimensional approach demonstrated that both key populations and lower-risk populations visit a sexual health center. While several groups could benefit from tailored interventions, knowledge of HIV and its treatment should be enhanced for every patient visiting a sexual health center. To provide a complete offer in sexual health, patients' profiles and expectations need to be taken into account.