Social Determinants of Health Informed Interventions to Address or Reduce Sexually Transmitted and Blood Borne Infections Among 2SGBTMSM in High-Income Countries Between 2012 – 2024: A Scoping Review Protocol

Background Two-Spirit, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Men who have Sex with Men (2SGBTMSM) still bear a disproportionate burden of sexually transmitted and blood borne infections (STBBI) such as HIV, despite local and national initiatives aiming to improve screening, testing, and treatment measures. In recent years, interventions aimed at mitigating HIV/STBBI risk and acquisition have leveraged principles of the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH), which encompass social, economic, and political factors known to influence behavior and health outcomes. The primary objective of this scoping review is to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions that are informed by the SDoH framework in preventing or addressing HIV/STBBI among 2SGBTMSM in high-income countries. Methods A scoping review of academic and grey literature between 2012 and 2024 will be conducted to identify the landscape of SDoH-informed interventions targeting HIV/STBBI and associated outcomes. The review will adhere to the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines and guidance from Arksey and O’Malley. The search strategy will be supported by a subject matter librarian and involve the use of relevant search terms (e.g., Chlamydia, 2SGBTMSM, HIV, infection) and Boolean operators across several electronic databases (e.g., MEDLINE, CINAHL, APA PsychInfo). Studies will be selected based on a title and abstract review, followed by a full-text review using inclusion and exclusion criteria determined a priori. Data extracted will include study information, intervention descriptions, and outcomes. Findings will be synthesized narratively and descriptively tabulated. If possible, quality appraisal will be conducted. Discussion This review will provide evidence on the current landscape on prevention efforts aimed at 2SGBTMSM regarding HIV/STBBI’s. The utilization of the SDoH in these approaches demonstrate significant promise in the field of public health and equity justice as a low-cost alternative, yet to date, no study has systematically summarized and synthesized the available literature. To fill this gap, the present review will systematically identify and summarize the effectiveness underpinning existing SDoH-informed interventions to address future HIV/STBBI’s prevention efforts for 2SGBTMSM. Scoping review registration: This scoping review protocol is registered with Open Science Framework (DOI: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/E8D4Z)