BACKGROUND

This study explores the professional functions and experiences of male midwives in the Province of Aurora, highlighting their roles, challenges, and contributions to maternal and child healthcare in a traditionally female-dominated profession.

This study aims to investigate the professional functions and lived experiences of male midwives in the Province of Aurora.

This research employed a qualitative ethnographic design using semi-structured interviews to collect data. Participants were six male midwives practicing in Aurora. Data collection was conducted via mobile phone interviews from August to September 2024. A purposive sampling technique was utilized to select participants. The study adhered to ethical guidelines, receiving approval from the University of Northern Philippines Ethics Review Committee Code: 2024-251, and informed consent was obtained from all participants. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Qualitative inductive content analysis as described by Padgett was utilized to allow for data-driven analysis without pre-defined themes, making it suitable for exploring the diverse experiences of male midwives.

Analysis revealed six key themes: Diverse professional functions, gender bias and stereotyping, patient reluctance and shyness, cultural influences, experiences of discrimination and prejudice, and daily challenges and rewards in practice. The findings underscore the commitment of male midwives to providing quality care despite societal and professional barriers. Under the Functions theme, male midwives described their roles as not only caregivers but also as advocates for gender inclusivity in midwifery. In terms of experiences, some reported feelings of isolation and the need to prove their competence in a field dominated by women. However, they also shared empowering stories of camaraderie with female colleagues and the satisfaction derived from breaking down gender barriers.

Male midwives play a vital role in maternal and newborn healthcare, navigating challenges such as gender bias and patient hesitancy. Strengthening administrative support, promoting inclusivity, and updating policies can enhance their professional integration. Advocacy efforts from professional organizations are necessary to address workplace challenges and recognize their contributions to healthcare.

BACKGROUND

This study explores the professional functions and experiences of male midwives in the Province of Aurora, highlighting their roles, challenges, and contributions to maternal and child healthcare in a traditionally female-dominated profession.

This study aims to investigate the professional functions and lived experiences of male midwives in the Province of Aurora.

This research employed a qualitative ethnographic design using semi-structured interviews to collect data. Participants were six male midwives practicing in Aurora. Data collection was conducted via mobile phone interviews from August to September 2024. A purposive sampling technique was utilized to select participants. The study adhered to ethical guidelines, receiving approval from the University of Northern Philippines Ethics Review Committee Code: 2024-251, and informed consent was obtained from all participants. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Qualitative inductive content analysis as described by Padgett was utilized to allow for data-driven analysis without pre-defined themes, making it suitable for exploring the diverse experiences of male midwives.

Analysis revealed six key themes: Diverse professional functions, gender bias and stereotyping, patient reluctance and shyness, cultural influences, experiences of discrimination and prejudice, and daily challenges and rewards in practice. The findings underscore the commitment of male midwives to providing quality care despite societal and professional barriers. Under the Functions theme, male midwives described their roles as not only caregivers but also as advocates for gender inclusivity in midwifery. In terms of experiences, some reported feelings of isolation and the need to prove their competence in a field dominated by women. However, they also shared empowering stories of camaraderie with female colleagues and the satisfaction derived from breaking down gender barriers.

Male midwives play a vital role in maternal and newborn healthcare, navigating challenges such as gender bias and patient hesitancy. Strengthening administrative support, promoting inclusivity, and updating policies can enhance their professional integration. Advocacy efforts from professional organizations are necessary to address workplace challenges and recognize their contributions to healthcare.

INTRODUCTION: Although pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has been available in Singapore since 2016, its uptake among gay, bisexual and other men-who-have-sex-with-men (GBMSM) is low. The iPARTY study was established to evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of PrEP and a PrEP teleconsultation service for young GBMSM aged 18 to 29 years. METHOD: A total of 53 young GBMSM were enrolled in the iPARTY study. They had a total of 5 in-person consultations and teleconsultations, at 12-week intervals. Laboratory tests and quarterly baseline surveys were performed to assess PrEP adherence, sexual behaviour, and incidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). RESULTS: Thirty-five participants completed the entire 12-month follow-up. Most participants had positive experiences with PrEP teleconsultations. There was a statistically significant fall in participants' aggregate Patient Health Questionnaire-9 scores throughout the study. Self-reported PrEP adherence decreased over the course of the study, denoting improved mental health. Although self-reported condom use for anal intercourse and participants' risk perception of HIV decreased after PrEP adoption, there was no statisti-cally significant increase in STI incidence. CONCLUSION This pilot project has shown that PrEP services provide an opportunity for YMSM to access sexual health testing, treatment and counselling, and may even have tangible benefits on the mental health of this population. Teleconsultation is shown to be a suitable platform for the delivery of such services. Collaborative initiatives are crucial to further enhance the affordability and accessibility of PrEP in Singapore, and to improve patient adherence.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Humans ; Male ; Young Adult ; Anti-HIV Agents/administration & dosage* ; Feasibility Studies ; Health Risk Behaviors ; HIV Infections/psychology* ; Incidence ; Medication Adherence ; Mental Health/statistics & numerical data* ; Pilot Projects ; Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis/statistics & numerical data* ; Sexual and Gender Minorities/statistics & numerical data* ; Sexually Transmitted Diseases/prevention & control* ; Singapore/epidemiology* ; Telemedicine/statistics & numerical data* ; Homosexuality, Male/statistics & numerical data*

Body dysmorphia is a debilitating disorder that centralizes on a preoccupation with one’s physical appearance. Often, these individuals seek surgical correction in an effort to subdue this preoccupation. A majority of complications from feminizing gender reassignment surgery, consists of urethral stricture or stenosis, leading to voiding dysfunction. The patient is 39-year old male who underwent bilateral nipple removal, bilateral orchiectomy, scrotectomy and total penectomy with perineal urethrostomy, one year prior to consult. The patient eventually presented with acute urinary retention secondary to perineal urethrostomy stenosis. Urethroplasty with revision of perineal urethrostomy site using a buccal graft was done; and on follow up, he was noted to have good urine flow on uroflowmetry with mild lower urinary tract symptoms. Complex urethral strictures may be noted in patients with prior reconstructive history and lengthy areas of fibrosis. Although perineal urethrostomy is a valid surgical course of treatment for patients with complex strictures, improper technique, suboptimal patient factors, and, poor healing may lead to stenosis. The study aims to describe the use of a buccal graft as a viable alternative and easily reproducible technique to augment a revision perineal urethrostomy and lessen the recurrence of stenosis.

INTRODUCTION: The understanding of gender dysphoria (GD) in children and adolescents is limited in Singapore. This study aims to review the presentation of GD in an outpatient psychiatric clinic, to gain insights into its prevalence and associated factors. METHOD: We conducted a retrospective review of medical records for patients diagnosed with GD according to criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth and Fifth editions, at the clinic between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2021. We collected and analysed demographic, medical and other GD-specific clinical variables. RESULTS: The study included 107 participants (mean age 16.6 years), comprising 47 natal males and 60 natal females. The prevalence of GD was found to be 1:5434 (0.019%). Incidence rates increased from 2.17 to 5.85 per 100,000 population between 2017 and 2021. The mean age of diagnosis was 15.6 years, with an average delay of 5 years between experiencing gender identity-related concerns and seeking formal assistance. Approximately 45% of participants reported social and physical transitions, and 20.6% reported self-harm or suicidal thoughts. CONCLUSION The study highlights the presentation of GD in an under-researched Asian setting. Supporting individuals with GD in Asia requires sensitivity to cultural and societal factors with a holistic approach to individual well-being.
Humans ; Singapore/epidemiology* ; Adolescent ; Gender Dysphoria/psychology* ; Retrospective Studies ; Female ; Male ; Suicidal Ideation ; Child ; Prevalence ; Incidence ; Self-Injurious Behavior/psychology*

HIV testing is the first step in HIV prevention and control, the rate of HIV infection is high and the rate of HIV testing is low among men who have sex with men (MSM) in China. HIV self-testing provides MSM with a new choice and plays a vital role in expanding the coverage of HIV testing in this population. This paper reviews HIV self-testing and associated factors among MSM in China and provides a reference for promoting HIV self-testing in this population.
Male ; Humans ; HIV Infections/epidemiology* ; Homosexuality, Male ; Self-Testing ; Sexual and Gender Minorities ; HIV Testing ; China/epidemiology*

Objective: To understand the compliancy to on-demand HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and related factors in men who have sex with men (MSM) accessing to PrEP service through an Internet platform. Methods: A cross-sectional study method was used to recruit survey respondents through the Heer Health platform from July 6 to August 30, 2022, and a questionnaire survey on the current status of medication use was conducted in MSM who use PrEP through the platform and take medication on demand. The MSM's information collected in the survey mainly included socio-demographic characteristics, behavioral characteristics, risk perception characteristics, PrEP awareness and the status of dose taking. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate factors related with compliancy to PrEP. Results: A total of 330 MSM who met the recruitment criteria were included during the survey period, with a valid response rate of 96.7% (319/330) to the questionnaire survey. The age of the 319 MSM was (32.5±7.3) years. Most of them had education level of junior college or college and above (94.7%, 302/319), most of them were unmarried (90.3%, 288/319), most of them had full-time works (95.9%, 306/319), and 40.8% of them had average monthly income ≥10 000 yuan (130/319). The proportion of the MSM with good compliancy to PrEP was 86.5% (276/319). The results of univariate and multivariate logistic analyses showed that the MSM with good awareness of PrEP had relatively better compliancy to PrEP compared with those with poor awareness of PrEP (aOR=2.43, 95%CI:1.11-5.32). Conclusions: The compliancy to on-demand PrEP was good in MSM who accessed to the services through Internet platform, but there is still a need to strengthen PrEP promotion in MSM for the further improvement of PrEP compliancy and reduction of the risk for HIV infection in this population.
Male ; Humans ; Adult ; HIV Infections ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Homosexuality, Male ; Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis ; Sexual and Gender Minorities ; Internet

Objective: To understand HIV self-testing and related factors in men who have sex with men (MSM) in Shijiazhuang. Methods: From August to September 2020, convenient sampling was used to recruit MSM in Shijiazhuang. Online questionnaires were used to collect information about their demographic characteristics, sexual behaviors and HIV self-testing. logistic regression model was used to analyze the related factors associated with HIV self-testing. Results: In the 304 MSM respondents, 52.3% (159/304) had HIV self-testing in the past 6 months, and 95.0% (151/159) used fingertip blood HIV detection reagent. Self-purchase was the main way to obtain HIV testing reagents (45.9%, 73/159), followed by supply from MSM social organization (44.7%, 71/159). The reasons for having HIV self-testing were non-specific testing time (67.9%, 108/159) and privacy protection (62.9%,100/159), the reasons for having no HIV self-testing included inability of using (32.4%, 47/145), being unaware of HIV self-testing reagent (24.1%, 35/145), and worry about inaccurate self-testing results (19.3%, 28/145). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that being 18-29 years old (aOR=2.68, 95%CI: 1.20-5.94), obtaining free HIV self-testing kits in recent 6 months (aOR=8.61, 95%CI: 4.09-18.11) and making friends through Internet and social software (aOR=2.68, 95%CI: 1.48-4.88) were positive factors for having HIV self-testing. Conclusion: HIV self-testing is a more flexible and convenient way to detect HIV in MSM, and the promotion of HIV self-testing in MSM should be strengthened to further increase the HIV detection rate in this population.
Male ; Humans ; Adolescent ; Young Adult ; Adult ; Homosexuality, Male ; Self-Testing ; Sexual and Gender Minorities ; HIV Testing ; Sexual Behavior

Objective: To understand and analyze the incidence of club drug abuse and influencing factors in men who have sex with men (MSM) in Qingdao, and provide reference for the AIDS prevention and intervention in this population. Methods: From March 2017 to July 31, 2022, MSM who did not abuse club drug were recruited by snowball sampling of MSM social organizations in Qingdao, a prospective cohort was established, and a follow-up survey was conducted every 6 months. The survey collected the information about the MSM's demographic characteristics, sexual characteristics, club drug abuse and others. The incidence of club drug abuse was the outcome dependent variable and the interval between the recruitment into the cohort and the incidence of club drug abuse was the time dependent variable. Cox regression analysis was conducted to identify the influencing factors for club drug abuse. Results: A total of 509 MSM were recruited at baseline survey, and 369 eligible MSM were enrolled in this cohort. A total of 62 MSM began to abuse club drug during the study period, and the cumulative follow-up time was 911.54 person-years, the incidence of club drug abuse was 6.80/100 person-years. All the club drug abusers shared drugs with others in the first club drug abuse, and 16.13% (10/62) had mix-use of club drugs. The multivariate Cox proportional risk regression analysis showed that being students (aHR=2.17, 95%CI: 1.15-4.10), receiving no HIV testing or receiving 1 HIV testing during past 6 months (aHR=4.57, 95%CI:1.80-11.60; aHR=5.15, 95%CI: 2.83-9.36), having sex only with regular sexual partners during past 6 months (aHR=4.75,95%CI:2.32-9.75), having more than 4 homosexual partners (aHR=1.70, 95%CI:1.01-2.87) and abuse of club drug of sexual partners during past 6 months (aHR=12.78, 95%CI:3.06-53.35) were significantly associated with club drug abuse in the MSM. Conclusions: The incidence of club drug abuse was at a high level in the MSM cohort in Qingdao, indicating a high risk for HIV infection. Being student, receiving less HIV testing, having sex only with regular sexual partners, having more homosexual partners and abuse of club drug of sexual partners during past 6 months were risk factors for the incidence of club drug abuse in the MSM. Targeted surveillance and intervention measures should be strengthened to reduce the risk of club drug abuse in MSM.
Male ; Humans ; Homosexuality, Male ; Cohort Studies ; Illicit Drugs ; Incidence ; HIV Infections ; Prospective Studies ; Sexual and Gender Minorities ; Substance-Related Disorders

Objective: To understand the cognition and medication use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among men who have sex with men (MSM) in China and its associated factors. Method: From August 25 to September 5, 2021, 2 447 MSM were recruited in 24 cities to complete the online questionnaire through a male social interaction platform, Blued 7.5 software. The survey contents included demographic information of the respondents, PrEP awareness and usage, and risk behaviors. Descriptive analysis and multi-level logistic regression were performed for data analysis. SPSS 24.0 and SAS 9.4 software were used for statistical analysis. Results: Among the 2 447 respondents of MSM, 1 712 (69.96%) had heard of PrEP, 437 (17.86%) ever used PrEP, 274 (11.20%) were on PrEP, and 163 (6.66%) had discontinued PrEP; among the 437 cases (whoever used PrEP), more than 61.88% (388/627) adopted emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate regimen, and most of them adopted on-demand regimen. The average PrEP dosage reported in the past year is 1.12 tabletsper person per week. PrEP purchase was primarily via an online channel, and the most concerned factor was the PrEP effectiveness on HIV prevention. The most common reasons for discontinuing PrEP, reported by 163 cases, were the lack of HIV risk perception, the use of a condom to prevent HIV, and the economic burden of PrEP use. The logistic regression analysis showed that PrEP use among MSM in 24 cities was statistically associated with age, monthly income, ever having unprotected anal sex in the past year, used sexual drugs and sexually transmitted disease (STD) diagnosis in the past year. Compared with MSM aged 18-24, the proportion of MSM was relatively lower among those aged 25-44, who discontinued the PrEP (aOR=0.54,95%CI:0.34-0.87) or never used PrEP (aOR=0.62,95%CI:0.44-0.87). The proportion of unprotected anal sex among MSM currently on PrEP use was higher than those who have stopped PrEP and never used PrEP (all P<0.05). Those MSM group, with monthly income higher than 5 000 Yuan, used sexual drugs and STD diagnosis in the past year were more likely to have a higher rate for PrEP usage (all P<0.05). Conclusions: Currently, pre-exposure prophylaxis in the MSM group is primarily obtained via the online channel and adopted in an on-demand mode. Although the PrEP users have reached a certain proportion, it is still necessary to strengthen health education on the PrEP effects and side effects of MSM and to improve the awareness and use rate, especially for young MSM group, which can be combined with the advantages of the internet targeting its needs and use barriers.
Humans ; Male ; Homosexuality, Male ; Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis ; Cities ; Sexual and Gender Minorities ; Sexual Behavior ; China ; HIV Infections/prevention & control*