Not telling could hurt you.

In a survey of adult men who have sex with men living in and around New York City, 39% of participants said that they had not told any health care provider that they are attracted to or have sex with men. (1) A wide range of demographic, socioeconomic and behavioral characteristics were examined in multivariate analyses, but few were associated with the likelihood of disclosure. Black and Hispanic men were less likely than whites to have told a provider that they were attracted to or had sex with men (odds ratios, 0.3 and 0.5, respectively), and men who had had a female partner in the last 12 months were less likely than others to have made such a disclosure (0.1). The odds were elevated among men who had ever had an HIV test (2.1), U.S.-born men (1.9) and men reporting incomes of at least $10,000 (3.9-4.7, depending on the income group). No men who considered themselves bisexual had disclosed that to a provider. The investigators note that despite federal recommendations of universal HIV screening, many providers continue to offer HIV tests only to patients they consider to be at risk. If these providers are not aware of patients' risk factors, the researchers conclude, high-risk individuals could be missed.

(1.) Bernstein KT et al., Same-sex attraction disclosure to health care providers among New York City men who have sex with men: implications for HIV testing approaches, Archives of Internal Medicine, 2008, 168(13):1458-1464.