Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the exposure to and impact of the It's Never Just HIV mass media campaign aimed at HIV negative men who have sex with men (MSM) in New York City.
Methods: Questions about the campaign were included in the local questionnaire of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-sponsored National HIV Behavioral Surveillance (NHBS) study of MSM in NYC conducted in 2011. Participants in this cross-sectional study were recruited using venue-based sampling.
Results: Among 447 NYC National HIV Behavioral Surveillance study participants who self-reported HIV negative or unknown status and answered questions about the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's It's Never Just HIV campaign, more than one-third (n = 173, 38.7%) reported having seen the campaign. Latinos (34.8%) and blacks (34.4%) were less likely to report seeing the campaign compared to whites (47.7%). Most of those who reported seeing the campaign saw it on the subway (80.1%). Only 9.4% of those who saw the campaign reported having changed their sexual or health behaviors in response to the campaign.
Conclusions: These data suggest that thousands of HIV-uninfected MSM in NYC have been reached by the campaign and recalled its message.
Keywords: HIV/AIDS; health behavior; health communications; health promotion; men who have sex with men (MSM).