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Venue-based strategies offer effective means of targeting men who have sex with men. Few studies have sought to focus on where younger men congregate and understand risk behaviors that may occur at lower (i.e., community centers) versus higher risk venues. Data from 1,311 young men who have sex with men (YMSM) aged 12- to 24-years-old recruited from publicly accessible venues was used to examine the association between venue type (bar/club, community center, mixed [adjacent to bar/club, including parking lot/alley]) and HIV-related risk factors. YMSM recruited from community venues were more likely than those from bars/clubs to report more partners in last year, receive money in exchange for sex, and to be tested for HIV in prior 6 months, whereas YMSM from mixed-use venues were more likely to have ever received money in exchange for sex, and injected drugs. Community and mixed venues may be key access points for YMSM. [Supplemental funding was provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and Mental Health.]

Objectives: We report lessons derived from implementation of the Social Network Strategy (SNS) into existing HIV counseling, testing, and referral services targeting 18- to 64-year-old Black gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM)., Methods: The SNS procedures used in this study were adapted from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded, 2-year demonstration project involving 9 community-based organizations (CBOs) in 7 cities. Under the SNS, HIV-positive and HIV-negative men at high risk for HIV (recruiters) were enlisted to identify and recruit persons from their social, sexual, or drug-using networks (network associates) for HIV testing. Sites maintained records of modified study protocols for ascertaining lessons learned. The study was conducted between April 2008 and May 2010 at CBOs in Washington, DC, and New York, New York, and at a health department in Baltimore, Maryland., Results: Several common lessons regarding development of the plan, staffing, training, and use of incentives were identified across the sites. Collectively, these lessons indicate use of SNS is resource-intensive, requiring a detailed plan, dedicated staff, and continual input from clients and staff for successful implementation., Conclusions: SNS may provide a strategy for identifying and targeting clusters of high-risk Black MSM for HIV testing. Given the resources needed to implement the strategy, additional studies using an experimental design are needed to determine the cost-effectiveness of SNS compared with other testing strategies.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of individual, system, and interpersonal factors on emergency contraception practices. We hypothesized that abortion attitudes and attitudes toward teen sex would be significant individual factors influencing emergency contraception practices., Design: This was a cross-sectional, anonymous Internet survey., Setting: Four pediatric residency programs in the Baltimore, Maryland-Washington, DC, metropolitan area during April to June 2007., Participants: One hundred forty-one pediatric residents completed the survey., Main Exposure: Abortion attitudes were assessed by participants' level of agreement with abortion in 7 scenarios. Attitudes toward teen sex were assessed by participants' level of agreement with 5 statements about the acceptability of teens having sex., Main Outcome Measures: Emergency contraceptive counseling behavior was assessed by reported frequency of including emergency contraception in routine contraceptive counseling. Intention to prescribe emergency contraception was assessed by reported likelihood of prescribing in 5 scenarios., Results: When controlling for demographics and other predictors, residents with less favorable abortion attitudes were more likely to have the lowest intention to prescribe emergency contraception. Residents with more positive attitudes toward teen sex and who had a preceptor encourage emergency contraception prescription were more likely to include emergency contraception in routine contraceptive counseling most/all the time and to have the highest intention to prescribe., Conclusion: Efforts to challenge and affect attitudes toward teen sex and to prompt residents to prescribe emergency contraception in clinical settings may be needed to encourage more proactive emergency contraceptive practice in accordance with national practice guidelines.