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. 2023 Mar:320:115635.
doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115635. Epub 2023 Jan 6.

Geographic mobility and its impact on sexual health and ongoing HIV transmission among migrant latinx men who have sex with men

Susan Cassels  1 , Alison Cerezo  2 , Sean C Reid  3 , David B Rivera  2 , Colin Loustalot  3 , Dan Meltzer  4
Affiliations

Geographic mobility and its impact on sexual health and ongoing HIV transmission among migrant latinx men who have sex with men

Susan Cassels et al. Soc Sci Med. 2023 Mar.

Abstract

An understudied social process that may determine variable HIV risk, testing, and linkage to care is geographic mobility, including immigration as well as short-term mobility, especially among sexual minority populations. We aimed to assess how geographic mobility over the lifecourse between Latin America and the U.S., and within the U.S., was linked to sexual risk and health behaviors among Latinx migrant men who have sex with men (MSM) in San Bernardino County, California. Qualitative analysis of 16 semi-structured interviews revealed four major domains of influence on participants' sexual risk behaviors. At the micro level, these included social environment/interpersonal factors (e.g., family and peer support) and geographic factors and pathways (e.g., migration journey to the U.S.). At the macro level data centered on cultural factors (e.g., gender norms in home country) and structural factors (e.g., HIV healthcare). Our results can illuminate and promote effective health policies and HIV reduction efforts for Latinx migrant MSM in metro areas.

Keywords: Migration; Sexual minority men; Social and geographic space.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Conceptual framework of geographic mobility and sexual health, resulting from 16 semi-structured interviews of Latinx immigrant MSM in San Bernardino County, CA.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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