Other Titles
Men Who Have Sex with Men & Mpox: An Integrative Review Evaluating Perceptions & Stigma [Poster Title]
Other Titles
Rising Star Poster/Presentation
Abstract
As mpox (monkeypox) cases decline worldwide, ongoing global inequities in transmission rates among men who have sex with men (MSM) persist. These inequities are influenced by perception and misinformation, however, research on perceptions of mpox in relation to MSM remains underdeveloped.
The purpose of this integrative review is to synthesize the evidence on perceptions of mpox as it relates to the MSM community.
A database search within CINAHL, APAPsycInfo and MEDLINE was conducted between January, 2022 and June, 2023. Mesh terms included "stigma", “bias”, “perception”, “social”, “attitude” and “monkeypox". Articles were screened to include the interaction between perceptions, MSM, and mpox, yielding 20 articles from several different countries.
Articles commented on the perceptions of mpox in relation to MSM as a dynamic, but as tangential findings of other questions. Eight articles evaluated social-media platforms, three were vaccine studies, three examined healthcare workers’ perspectives, five considered psychological or ecological aspects of perception, and one investigated differences between MSM in rural and urban settings. No articles specifically focused on the dynamic.
Understanding these perceptions, including misinformation, stigma, and conspiratorial thinking, can improve military preparedness and response to mpox and other high consequence infectious diseases with global social and political implications.
Notes
Reference list included in attached document file.
Sigma Membership
Theta Tau
Type
Poster
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
Global Health Issues and Ethics, Monkeypox, Mpox, Mpox Perception, Stigma
Recommended Citation
Longacre, Lauren; Shade, Marcia Y.; and Beam, Elizabeth L., "An Integrative Review of Perceptions of Mpox Within the Men who Have Sex with Men Community" (2025). Biennial Convention (CONV). 91.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/convention/2025/posters_2025/91
Conference Name
48th Biennial Convention
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Invited Presentation
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2025-12-10
An Integrative Review of Perceptions of Mpox Within the Men who Have Sex with Men Community
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
As mpox (monkeypox) cases decline worldwide, ongoing global inequities in transmission rates among men who have sex with men (MSM) persist. These inequities are influenced by perception and misinformation, however, research on perceptions of mpox in relation to MSM remains underdeveloped.
The purpose of this integrative review is to synthesize the evidence on perceptions of mpox as it relates to the MSM community.
A database search within CINAHL, APAPsycInfo and MEDLINE was conducted between January, 2022 and June, 2023. Mesh terms included "stigma", “bias”, “perception”, “social”, “attitude” and “monkeypox". Articles were screened to include the interaction between perceptions, MSM, and mpox, yielding 20 articles from several different countries.
Articles commented on the perceptions of mpox in relation to MSM as a dynamic, but as tangential findings of other questions. Eight articles evaluated social-media platforms, three were vaccine studies, three examined healthcare workers’ perspectives, five considered psychological or ecological aspects of perception, and one investigated differences between MSM in rural and urban settings. No articles specifically focused on the dynamic.
Understanding these perceptions, including misinformation, stigma, and conspiratorial thinking, can improve military preparedness and response to mpox and other high consequence infectious diseases with global social and political implications.
Description
This integrative review analyzed 20 studies on perceptions of mpox among MSM, revealing stigma, misinformation, and bias as recurring themes, though none directly examined this relationship. Studies spanned topics like social media, vaccine attitudes, healthcare perspectives, and geographic differences, highlighting gaps in focused research that could strengthen public health and emergency preparedness efforts.