Ecological association between Grindr user characteristics and HIV prevalence in Malaysia: a cross-sectional study
File(s)
Article in press
Author(s)
Mohd Kassim, Muhammad Hakimi Bin
Ismail, Kamarul
Huq, Md Enamul
Aung, Hein Htet
Cardwell, Ethan Trey
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Objective
Men who have sex with men in Malaysia face a high HIV burden, but demographic, behavioral, and digital health data remain limited by social constraints. This nationwide, cross-sectional ecological study utilized a grid-based geographic sampling method to systematically collect publicly accessible Grindr profiles across all Malaysian states and federal territories. Population-normalized Grind user rates, profile characteristics, and regional people living with HIV rates were analyzed using Spearman’s rank-order correlation to evaluate whether geosocial networking platform data offer insights into regional HIV epidemiology.
Results
A significant positive correlation was observed between population-normalized Grindr user rates and PLHIV rates (rs = 0.5821, P = 0.0252). While unadjusted analyses showed nominal positive correlations between regional PLHIV rates and specific profile characteristics, none maintained significance following false discovery rate correction (Q = 5%). This lack of post-correction significance is driven by the limited statistical power of the regional sample size (n =16) and high percentages of profile non-disclosure. Thus, while grid-based sampling systematically assesses digital user density, individual profile characteristics cannot reliably indicate regional HIV prevalence when data omissions are widespread.
Men who have sex with men in Malaysia face a high HIV burden, but demographic, behavioral, and digital health data remain limited by social constraints. This nationwide, cross-sectional ecological study utilized a grid-based geographic sampling method to systematically collect publicly accessible Grindr profiles across all Malaysian states and federal territories. Population-normalized Grind user rates, profile characteristics, and regional people living with HIV rates were analyzed using Spearman’s rank-order correlation to evaluate whether geosocial networking platform data offer insights into regional HIV epidemiology.
Results
A significant positive correlation was observed between population-normalized Grindr user rates and PLHIV rates (rs = 0.5821, P = 0.0252). While unadjusted analyses showed nominal positive correlations between regional PLHIV rates and specific profile characteristics, none maintained significance following false discovery rate correction (Q = 5%). This lack of post-correction significance is driven by the limited statistical power of the regional sample size (n =16) and high percentages of profile non-disclosure. Thus, while grid-based sampling systematically assesses digital user density, individual profile characteristics cannot reliably indicate regional HIV prevalence when data omissions are widespread.
Date Issued
2026-06-15
Date Acceptance
2026-06-15
Citation
BMC Research Notes, 2026
ISSN
1756-0500
Publisher
BMC
Journal / Book Title
BMC Research Notes
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2026. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
License URL
Identifier
10.1186/s13104-026-07920-5
Subjects
HIV epidemiology
men who have sex with men
geosocial networking application
spatial analysis
sexual network
Publication Status
Published online
Date Publish Online
2026-06-15