The electronic identification protects privacy and has consistent HIV incidence with the traditional real-name follow-up among Chinese MSM: A 24-month prospective cohort study (Preprint)
BACKGROUND Men who have sex with men (MSM) usually face stigma and discrimination in relation to their sexual orientation and have the fear of identification disclosure, which may prevent them from taking HIV tests and participating in research studies. The traditionally used real-name identification methods might lead to biased estimates in HIV incidence. OBJECTIVE This study evaluated an electronic identification (eID) method in estimating HIV incidence among MSM using a social media application that allowed good protection of privacy than the real-name identification. METHODS From January 2018 to January 2020, a WeChat OpenID identifier was used to generate and assign eID for MSM who attended the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University for voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) services. The inclusion criteria were men aged 18 years and older who had consensual anal or oral sex with men in the previous 12 months and agreed to WeChat authorization. The eID group was compared with the real-name identification group (PID) that we acquired through HIV testing information regarding participants’ demographic and behavioral characteristics and HIV incidence. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and Kappa statistics were used to compare the consistency of the two groups. Cox regression was used to assess factors that were associated with HIV infection during the follow-up period. RESULTS Of 1499 WeChat OpenID users, 1133 participants were identified and linked to their traditional PID and some participants used multiple OpenIDs. The Kappa consistency between eID and traditional PID method were 0.753. At baseline, 4.2% participants in eID group received an HIV positive testing result, which was comparable to PID group (5.4%, Kappa=0.992). Thirty-five participants infected HIV during the follow-up period. The incidence of HIV infection was 7.3/100 person-years for eID group (95% CI, 5.4-10.1) and 5.8/100 person-years for PID group (95% CI, 4.2-8.0), and the consistency was high (Kappa=0.712, P>.05). The retention rates between eID and PID group were also accordant (Kappa=0.722). Number of sexual partners, recent unprotected anal sex, and recent party drug use were associated with HIV seroconversion. CONCLUSIONS The eID method that allowed anonymous tests and multiple visits had consistent results compared to the traditional real-name PID method. This method can be scaled up in future prevention and testing programs in HIV high risk populations with high privacy and confidentiality demands.