Epidemiology of sexual health in the virtual environment: a multinational online survey of Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking men who use an internet sexual networking site

AIDS Behav. 2014 Sep;18(9):1675-85. doi: 10.1007/s10461-014-0844-6.

Abstract

There is limited data on the sexual health of users of sexual networking websites for men who have sex with men (MSM) in Latin America. Members of a MSM-targeted social/sexual networking website in Latin America, Spain, and Portugal participated in an online sexual health survey. Among 36,063 respondents, nearly 90 % reported having anal or vaginal intercourse in the past 3 months. Among sexually active men, 53.2 % used condoms inconsistently. In the past year, 54 % of respondents reported undergoing sexually transmitted infections (STI) testing and 67 % reported testing yearly or more often for HIV. Self-reported HIV prevalence was 9.1 %. Differences were seen by geographic region. Unprotected intercourse with partners of different or unknown HIV status was associated with recent STI diagnosis (OR = 1.83, t = 13.15, d.f. = 21, p < .001) and HIV diagnosis (OR = 2.20, t = 14.00, d.f. = 21, p < .001). Online surveys are a promising tool for HIV/STI surveillance and prevention internationally to reach an important subset of MSM.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Condoms / statistics & numerical data
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • HIV Infections / ethnology
  • HIV Infections / prevention & control*
  • Health Surveys
  • Homosexuality, Male / psychology
  • Homosexuality, Male / statistics & numerical data*
  • Humans
  • Internet*
  • Male
  • Portugal / epidemiology
  • Prevalence
  • Reproductive Health / ethnology*
  • Risk-Taking
  • Sexual Behavior / ethnology
  • Sexual Behavior / statistics & numerical data
  • Sexual Partners*
  • Social Networking*
  • Spain / epidemiology
  • Young Adult