{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]],"date-time":"2026-09-21T18:11:30Z","timestamp":1790014290417,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]],"date-time":"2026-09-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789948800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004761","name":"Natural Science Foundation of Hainan Province","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["824RC519"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["824RC519"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004761","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Joint Program on Health Science and Technology Innovation of Hainan Province","award":["WSJK2024MS155"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["WSJK2024MS155"]}]},{"name":"Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship project of Hainan Medical University","award":["X202411810111"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["X202411810111"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/004eeze55","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"Undergraduate Innovation and Entrepreneurship Project of Hainan Province","award":["S202511810032"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["S202511810032"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Men who have sex with men (MSM) have historically been a high-risk group for sexually transmitted diseases. In Hainan, the incidence of HIV and syphilis among MSM has increased rapidly. Additionally, there is a growing number of young students being diagnosed with HIV, with MSM identified as the primary demographic affected. However, the size and distribution of the MSM population within colleges and universities in Hainan Province remains unknown. In this study, the Blued App was employed to collect data on users within Hainan colleges and universities from May 9 to May 18, 2023. Using the users information and questionnaire survey data, we applied the multiplier method to estimate the population size of student MSM. Multivariate and geographic density analyses integrating survey data were conducted to identify regional disparities. A questionnaire survey revealed that 89.28% of student MSM reported using the Blued App, and 76.00% of the individuals utilized it for seeking sexual partners. The estimated population size of MSM in colleges across Hainan Province was 3504 (95%CI: 3464\u20133544), with Haikou and Sanya identified as hotspots. The proportion of active users was 33.13% (860\/2596). Notably, Danzhou and Wenchang, relatively small urban areas with limited Blued registrants, exhibited high proportion of active users (42.22% and 41.30%). These findings suggest that particular attention should be directed towards sexual health education, and sexually transmitted disease surveillance in specific colleges.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0358788","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]],"date-time":"2026-09-21T17:38:16Z","timestamp":1790012296000},"page":"e0358788","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Exploration of the population size of men who have sex with men in Hainan colleges: A cross-sectional study based on geographical social network App"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"given":"Shi","family":"Chen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Hainan Medical University","place":["Haikou, Hainan, China"],"department":["Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Hainan Academy of Medical 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of Public Health, Hainan Academy of Medical Sciences"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chunyun","family":"Lu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hainan Medical University","place":["Haikou, Hainan, China"],"department":["Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Hainan Academy of Medical Sciences"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Donghui","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hainan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention","place":["Haikou, Hainan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhaoqian","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hainan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention","place":["Haikou, Hainan, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3505-6429","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Dee","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hainan Medical University","place":["Haikou, Hainan, China"],"department":["Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Hainan Academy of Medical Sciences"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]]},"reference":[{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0358788.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1000","DOI":"10.1186\/s12879-019-4559-1","article-title":"The prevalence of HIV among MSM in China: a large-scale systematic analysis","volume":"19","author":"M-J Dong","year":"2019","journal-title":"BMC Infect Dis"},{"issue":"7","key":"pone.0358788.ref002","article-title":"Prevalence of HIV and syphilis infection among high school and college student 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Have Sex With Men in US States, Metropolitan Statistical Areas, and Counties, 2012-2013","volume":"2","author":"ES Rosenberg","year":"2016","journal-title":"JMIR Public Health Surveill"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0358788.ref006","article-title":"Estimating the Population Sizes of Men Who Have Sex With Men in US States and Counties Using Data From the American Community Survey","volume":"2","author":"JA Grey","year":"2016","journal-title":"JMIR Public Health Surveill"},{"issue":"9839","key":"pone.0358788.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"367","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(12)60821-6","article-title":"Global epidemiology of HIV infection in men who have sex with men","volume":"380","author":"C Beyrer","year":"2012","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"issue":"9839","key":"pone.0358788.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"388","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(12)60955-6","article-title":"Successes and challenges of HIV prevention in men who have sex with 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