TY - JOUR
T1 - Latin American Internet Survey for Men who have Sex with Men (LAMIS-2018)
T2 - Design, methods and implementation
AU - Reyes-Díaz, Michael
AU - Celly, Ana
AU - Folch, Cinta
AU - Lorente, Nicolas
AU - Stuardo, Valeria
AU - Veras, Maria Amelia
AU - Barros, Henrique
AU - Meireles, Paula
AU - Ramírez, Dorian
AU - Jonas, Kai J.
AU - Marcus, Ulrich
AU - Schmidt, Axel J.
AU - Caceres, Carlos F.
AU - Casabona, Jordi
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright: © 2022 Reyes-Díaz et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License,
PY - 2022/11
Y1 - 2022/11
N2 - Despite men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) from Latin America (LA) are still a vulnerable population for known health-related conditions and social problems, availability of comparable data across LA countries for assessment and monitoring purposes is limited. The objective of this article is to present the study design and the questionnaire of LAMIS-2018 (Latin America MSM Internet Survey), its recruitment strategy, rates and sources by country, and the lessons learned from its implementation. LAMIS-2018 was a cross-sectional, internet-based survey targeting MSM living in 18 LA countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela) that gathered data about sexual behaviors, HIV/STI and viral hepatitis knowledge, prophylactic use of antiretrovirals, psychosocial health, and access to sexual health services. The survey went online for four months and was available in three languages (Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch). Promotion was carried out using dating apps, websites, social networks, and by community-based and academic organizations of each participating country directly in gay venues and in their own premises. Overall, 64,655 MSM participated in LAMIS-2018. Dating apps and websites were the most important recruitment source in most countries, except for Honduras, Nicaragua, and Suriname, where community-based organizations recruited most of the participants. Beyond the LAMIS-2018 implementation description, we highlight the feasibility of such a study in this context, based on the collaboration between community-based and academic organizations to obtain a large sample of MSM in the region. LAMIS-2018 data will contribute to identify determinants of risk behaviors and prevention needs of vulnerable MSM populations in each country of the region.
AB - Despite men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) from Latin America (LA) are still a vulnerable population for known health-related conditions and social problems, availability of comparable data across LA countries for assessment and monitoring purposes is limited. The objective of this article is to present the study design and the questionnaire of LAMIS-2018 (Latin America MSM Internet Survey), its recruitment strategy, rates and sources by country, and the lessons learned from its implementation. LAMIS-2018 was a cross-sectional, internet-based survey targeting MSM living in 18 LA countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela) that gathered data about sexual behaviors, HIV/STI and viral hepatitis knowledge, prophylactic use of antiretrovirals, psychosocial health, and access to sexual health services. The survey went online for four months and was available in three languages (Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch). Promotion was carried out using dating apps, websites, social networks, and by community-based and academic organizations of each participating country directly in gay venues and in their own premises. Overall, 64,655 MSM participated in LAMIS-2018. Dating apps and websites were the most important recruitment source in most countries, except for Honduras, Nicaragua, and Suriname, where community-based organizations recruited most of the participants. Beyond the LAMIS-2018 implementation description, we highlight the feasibility of such a study in this context, based on the collaboration between community-based and academic organizations to obtain a large sample of MSM in the region. LAMIS-2018 data will contribute to identify determinants of risk behaviors and prevention needs of vulnerable MSM populations in each country of the region.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85142201210&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0277518
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0277518
M3 - Article
C2 - 36395121
AN - SCOPUS:85142201210
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 17
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 11 November
M1 - e0277518
ER -