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Background: Anxiety is common among sexual health service users. Accessible, anonymous online sexual health services may offer opportunities to connect users with mental health services, but little is known about anxiety in these settings. We sought to characterise expressions of anxiety among chat users and nurse responses to anxiety., Methods: We conducted inductive thematic analysis of transcripts from an anonymous online sexual health chat service moderated by sexual health nurses., Results: Among chat users, we identified: worry, anxiety, and emotional distress, particularly regarding HIV transmission risk, testing, and symptoms; exaggerated appraisal of HIV-transmission risk associated with sex-related shame and stigma; and patterns of anxiety that were unresolved by HIV education or testing interventions. Although nurses recognised and acknowledged anxiety, their responses to this anxiety varied; some provided anxiety management information, while others offered sexual health education and risk assessment., Conclusions: Targeted interventions addressing HIV-related stigma and anxiety among online sexual health service users are needed to facilitate connections to appropriate mental health supports.

This research aimed to understand the varying needs of diverse gay and bisexual men (GBM) in relation to online sexual health information-seeking dependent upon differing social sociodemographic variables and geographic location. A total of 1802 GBM in Ontario participated in this study. Multivariable regressions were conducted to analyze differences in information-seeking based on ethnicity group, HIV status, recent sexual behavior and regionality (urban and rural location). There were significant differences in online sexual health information-seeking content based on these demographic variables. Implications for sexual health outreach and service provision for diverse GBM are discussed as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated self-reported mental health during the first three months of the COVID-19 pandemic (March-May 2020), using a survey of HIV-testing and sexual health service clients from British Columbia, Canada (N = 1198). Over half (55%) reported their mental health as poor at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than double that of the general Canadian population in the same time frame (22%). Acknowledging that this burden of poor mental health that is likely to persist in the coming years, we propose that sexual health clinics should facilitate access to mental health supports as a low-barrier point of primary care contact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]