Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Aug;22(8):2468-2479.
doi: 10.1007/s10461-018-2160-z.

What Role Do Masculine Norms Play in Men's HIV Testing in Sub-Saharan Africa?: A Scoping Review

Katelyn M Sileo  1   2   3 , Rebecca Fielding-Miller  4 , Shari L Dworkin  5 , Paul J Fleming  6
Affiliations

What Role Do Masculine Norms Play in Men's HIV Testing in Sub-Saharan Africa?: A Scoping Review

Katelyn M Sileo et al. AIDS Behav. 2018 Aug.

Abstract

Men living with HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa are less likely to test for HIV than women. We conducted a scoping review in May of 2016 to identify how masculine norms influence men's HIV testing in sub-Saharan Africa. Our review yielded a total of 13 qualitative studies from 8 countries. Masculine norms create both barriers and facilitators to HIV testing. Barriers included emotional inexpression, gendered communication, social pressures to be strong and self-reliant, and the fear that an HIV positive result would threaten traditional social roles (i.e., husband, father, provider, worker) and reduce sexual success with women. Facilitators included perceptions that HIV testing could restore masculinity through regained physical strength and the ability to re-assume the provider role after accessing treatment. Across sub-Saharan Africa, masculinity appears to play an important role in men's decision to test for HIV and further research and interventions are needed to address this link.

Keywords: Gender norms; HIV testing; HIV/AIDS; Masculinity; Men; Sub-Saharan Africa.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
  Flow diagram. Adapted from [26]
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Kigozi IM, Dobkin LM, Martin JN, Geng EH, Muyindike W, Emenyonu NI, et al. Late-disease stage at presentation to an HIV clinic in the era of free antiretroviral therapy in Sub-Saharan Africa. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 2009;52(2):280–9. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Novitsky V, Bussmann H, Okui L, Logan A, Moyo S, van Wid-enfelt E, et al. Estimated age and gender profile of individuals missed by a home-based HIV testing and counselling campaign in a Botswana community. J Int AIDS Soc 2015;18:19918. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dovel K, Yeatman S, Watkins S, Poulin M. Men’s heightened risk of AIDS-related death: the legacy of gendered HIV testing and treatment strategies. AIDS 2015;29:1123–5. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Schell ES, Geofroy E, Phiri M, Bvumbwe A, Weinstein J, Jere JM. Cracking the code: getting men tested in rural Africa. AIDS 2016;30(2):331–2. - PubMed
    1. UNAIDS. Global Report: UNAIDS Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic 2013 Geneva: UNAIDS;2013.

Publication types

MeSH terms