Analyzing Social Support from Facebook on Viral Suppression among Young Black Men Who Have Sex with Men Living with HIV: A Pilot Study.

Social support has been associated with viral suppression among persons living with HIV (PWH). We examined cross-sectional data from young Black men who have sex with men to see if sociodemographic factors, medical history, and egocentric Facebook social support measures are related to viral suppression. Differences between participants were examined using Chi-square, Fisher's exact, or Wilcoxon Rank Sum Tests, with significance set at p = 0.10. Degree centrality (p = 0.074) and Eigenvector centrality (p = 0.087) were significant, indicating that PWH with unsuppressed viral loads had more social connections. These results contrast prior studies in the literature. Further research on online social support for PWH is needed.