{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]],"date-time":"2026-08-11T09:38:55Z","timestamp":1786441135781,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"AOSIS","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,14]],"date-time":"2026-08-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786665600000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background:\u00a0Despite global declines in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections, South African men remain disproportionately affected. Understanding men\u2019s HIV service preferences is essential for designing effective interventions.\nAim:\u00a0This qualitative study identified key attributes influencing men\u2019s preferences for HIV testing, prevention and treatment services in Gauteng province, South Africa.\nSetting:\u00a0Data were collected through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews between November 2023 and March 2024 across sites in Randburg, Soweto, Orange Farm and Pretoria.\nMethods:\u00a0A qualitative exploratory design employed focus group discussions with men aged 20\u201364 years and key informant interviews with HIV programme stakeholders. Stratified purposive sampling ensured demographic diversity. Recordings were transcribed verbatim and independently dual-coded. Framework analysis following Ritchie and Spencer\u2019s five-step approach systematically identified themes, which were refined into discrete attributes.\nResults:\u00a0Thirty-two focus group participants and 19 interview participants (median age 35 years [interquartile range [IQR] = 28\u201343], all Black African men, 82% secondary-educated) identified 10 priority HIV service attributes: accessibility, quality of care, cost-efficiency, comprehensive service packages, privacy and confidentiality, cultural sensitivity, technological solutions, community engagement, health awareness and stigma mitigation. Participants emphasised geographic proximity, welcoming nonjudgemental environments, affordability and privacy as critical in service utilisation.\nConclusion:\u00a0Findings emphasise the importance of comprehensive, private, affordable care delivered through welcoming environments with digital health awareness integration.\nContribution:\u00a0Validated attributes will inform a discrete choice experiment to quantify preference structures and guide the development of evidence-based, male HIV service delivery models in South Africa.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4102\/phcfm.v18i1.5334","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]],"date-time":"2026-08-11T09:17:39Z","timestamp":1786439859000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4102\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["\u2018Cost, man. Good quality stuff can get pricey\u2019, men\u2019s choices regarding HIV services in South Africa"],"prefix":"10.4102","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9603-1682","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Patience","family":"Manjengwa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00g0p6g84","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of Pretoria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1601-1516","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Clarence","family":"Yah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03rp50x72","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of the Witwatersrand"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5880-3680","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alfred","family":"Musekiwa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00g0p6g84","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of Pretoria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2580","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref0","unstructured":"UNAIDS. Global HIV & AIDS statistics \u2013 Fact sheet 2021 [homepage on the Internet]. 2021 [cited 2026 Apr]. Available from: https:\/\/www.unaids.org\/en\/resources\/documents\/2021\/UNAIDS_FactSheet"},{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kim H, Tanser F, Tomita A, Vandormael A, Cuadros DF. Beyond HIV prevalence: Identifying people living with HIV within underserved areas in South Africa. BMJ Global Health. 2021;6(4):e004089. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/bmjgh-2020-004089","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjgh-2020-004089"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mason-Jones AJ, Crisp C, Momberg M, Koech J, Koker PD, Mathews C. A systematic review of the role of school-based healthcare in adolescent sexual, reproductive, and mental health. Syst Rev. 2012;1(1):49. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1186\/2046-4053-1-49","DOI":"10.1186\/2046-4053-1-49"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Asuquo SE, Tahlil KM, Muessig KE, et al. 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