HIV risk and communication between regular partners in a cohort of HIV-negative gay men

Bibliographic Data

ID19444408
AuthorsGarrett Prestage (0000-0003-3917-8992, UNSW Sydney, corresponding author), Limin Mao (0000-0003-0995-5789, UNSW Sydney), David McGuigan (Cancer Council Australia), June Crawford (UNSW Sydney), Susan Kippax (UNSW Sydney), John Kaldor (0000-0002-7639-4355, UNSW Sydney), Andrew E Grulich (0000-0002-3269-1032, UNSW Sydney)
Year2006
Volume18
Issue2
Pages166-172
Publication date2006-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAIDS Care (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0954-0121 • E-ISSN: 1360-0451
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09540120500358951
PMID16338775
OpenAlexW2085154727
LanguageEN
Citations received34
References cited25

This paper reports on the breaking of agreements between regular partners among HIV-negative gay men in Sydney. Data were from the 1333 men completing face-to-face interviews through December 2003 for the Health in Men (HIM) open cohort of HIV-negative gay men in Sydney.822 men had a primary regular partner during the six month period before their 2003 interview. Most of these men had entered into agreements with their partners about sex either with each other or with other partners (87.2%). They most commonly agreed not to use condoms with each other (50.6%). Regarding casual sex, they most commonly agreed to always use condoms (34.2%) or to have no sex with men outside their relationships (28.6%). 48.8% reported some discomfort discussing with their partner their sex outside the relationship. Among those with agreements with their partners, 27.7% reported ever breaking those agreements. Those who found it more difficult to discuss issues of HIV serostatus and sexuality were more likely to report having broken their agreements (p<.001; p=.021 at one-year follow-up) and were more likely to have engaged in unprotected anal intercourse with casual partners (p<.001). A third of those men who broke their agreements did not inform their partner. A substantial proportion of gay men with agreements with their regular partners report some discomfort discussing sexuality and HIV serostatus with their partners. Difficulty discussing these issues may place these men at increased risk of breaking their agreements and may place both themselves and their partners at increased risk of infection

Casual · Cohort · Condom · Family medicine · Human sexuality · Political science · Serostatus · Sex partners · Sociology · Viral load · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · Demography · Gender Studies · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions · Medicine · Psychology