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The San Francisco Men's Health Study (SFMHS) was a prospective epidemiological study designed to learn more about the natural history of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). The study was funded by the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) under a contract with the School of Public Health of the University of California, Berkeley. Several organizations cooperated in carrying out the San Francisco study. The School of Public Health at the University of California provided the overall administration for the project. The Survey Research Center, also at the University, was responsible for questionnaire design, sampling, recruitment of participants, interviewing, coding, and data entry. Children's Hospital of San Francisco was the location for the interviewing and provided the facilities for the physical examinations, the various clinical tests performed, and the collection of specimens, some of which were sent to NIAID. The Irwin Memorial Blood Bank of San Francisco performed most of the blood analysis and also stored frozen lymphocytes. Research on the specimens retained locally was carried out at the University of California, San Francisco.

Work on the project began in September, 1983, when the contract was signed. The first year was devoted to the design of the project and the first wave of interviews. The study plan called for re-interviewing participants multiple times at six-month intervals. Data collection for Wave 1 was carried out from May 1984 until April 1985. Data collection for the final wave, Wave 16, was carried out from October 1992 until May 1993. In addition to the 16 principal waves, the study included a number of small partial data collections (called "half waves") such as Wave 3B, Wave 4B, and so on. These are not full waves for the entire cohort, rather they were an opportunity for the investigators to ask a few additional questions of a few of the participants in between the main data collection waves. (Note that the only real divided wave was Wave 15, which was divided into two parts -- Wave 15A and Wave 15B. Each of those parts was directed at a distinct segment of the cohort.) In addition to the waves and "half waves," there were several sub-studies based on the cohort of subjects in the study. Some of these were self-administered questionnaires handed out to the subjects during one or more of the waves. Others were additional lab tests or clinic observations. Finally, there is a Follow-Up data file for the SFMHS. This file reports the survival status of each participant as of the end of the study in August of 1993. Note, however, that surveillance continued for HIV-positive men from 1994 to 2002 as part of the United Men's Health Study and other subsequent studies.

The San Francisco Young Men's Health Study (SFYMHS) was a prospective epidemiological study, designed to learn more about the natural history of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). The participants were from a sample of young men aged 18 to 29 who resided in 21 census tracts in San Francisco. These participants took part in a baseline survey in order to obtain information about behavior, attitudes, and beliefs relevant to AIDS. They were also asked to give a specimen of blood for serologic testing. This study had two major objectives: (1) to determine the general health status of young men living in San Francisco, and (2) to determine the degree to which this population was at risk for HIV infection. In addition, the study provided estimates of the prevalence of HIV infection among young gay and bisexual men. Five annual follow-up surveys were carried out in order to monitor the trends in these variables.

During Wave 2 of the Young Men's Health Study, the original participants were asked to complete a second interview and provide another blood specimen. In addition, these original participants were asked to volunteer the names of their gay and bisexual friends who might be interested in taking part in the study. This secondary group, recruited between May 1993 and January 1994, is referred to as the Referral or Snowball sample. This group was also asked to participate in an interview and provide a blood sample. Beginning with Wave 3 of the main Original sample, the Referral sample was re-interviewed together with the Original sample. Wave 3 of the Original sample is combined with Wave 2 of the Referral sample, Wave 4 of the Original sample was combined with Wave 3 of the Referral sample, and so on until Wave 6 of the Original sample, which was combined with Wave 5 of the Referral sample.

Beginning with Wave 4 of the Original sample, the Host Genetics Sub-Study was started. Wave 1 of this sub-study shows the results for 91 members of the SFYMHS who were selected to be part of the Host Genetics Sub-Study. Some 38 gay or bisexual men from the Original Random sample participated, and 53 gay or bisexual men from the Referral sample were also chosen. All were interviewed in person between June 1995 and May 1996. There were three additional waves of the Host Genetics Sub-Study. Wave 1 of this sub-study corresponds to Wave 4 of the Original sample, Wave 2 corresponds to Wave 5 of the Original sample, and Wave 3 corresponds to Wave 6 of the Original sample. Wave 4 of the Host Genetics Sub-Study included the results for 64 members of the Original Sample who still participated in the Host Genetics Sub-Study. Some 30 gay or bisexual men from the Original Random Sample participated, and 34 gay or bisexual men from the Referral sample participated. All were interviewed for the last time between January 1999 and October 1999.