Partner Preference among Men Who Have Sex with Men: Potential Contribution to Spread of HIV within Minority Populations

PURPOSE:

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disproportionately affects men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States. Most prior research into drivers of HIV transmission has focused on individual characteristics rather than on dyadic-level behaviors such as sex partner selection. This article explores racial/ethnic preferences in sex and relationship partner selection among MSM to further contextualize the spread of HIV within minority groups.

METHODS:

Participants were recruited through a mobile application (app) for men to meet other men in 2015 and completed an online survey on behaviors related to HIV risk. All analyses on the sample of 530 MSM were conducted in 2015.

RESULTS:

There was significant homophily in partner selection within racial/ethnic minorities, but not for white MSM. In general, mobile app-using MSM reported a general preference for white and Hispanic men and a dispreference for black and Asian men, both for sex and relationship partners.

CONCLUSION:

Racial/ethnic preferences were found to drive intentions to form partnerships within this sample. Combined with the stigma many of these racial/ethnic minorities may also feel from homophobic attitudes within their own racial/ethnic communities, these MSM may be at particular risk for social isolation. These partner preferences likely affect the structure of the sexual networks of MSM and may contribute to increased clustering within high HIV incident sexual networks.

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By:  Phillips G 2nd1, Birkett M1, Hammond S1, Mustanski B1.

• 1Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University , Chicago, Illinois. 

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Your Chances of Getting HIV in the U.S.

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Do Sexual Networks of Men Who Have Sex with Men in New York City Differ by Race/Ethnicity?

The United States HIV epidemic disproportionately affects Black and Hispanic men who have sex with men (MSM). This disparity might be partially explained by differences in social and sexual network structure and composition. 

A total of 1267 MSM in New York City completed an ACASI survey and egocentric social and sexual network inventory about their sex partners in the past 3 months, and underwent HIV testing. Social and sexual network structure and composition were compared by race/ethnicity of the egos: black, non-Hispanic (N = 365 egos), white, non-Hispanic (N = 466), and Hispanic (N = 436). 21.1% were HIV-positive by HIV testing; 17.2% reported serodiscordant and serostatus unknown unprotected anal/vaginal intercourse (SDUI) in the last 3 months. Black MSM were more likely than white and Hispanic MSM to report exclusively having partners of same race/ethnicity. Black and Hispanic MSM had more HIV-positive and unknown status partners than white MSM. White men were more likely to report overlap of social and sex partners than black and Hispanic men. No significant differences by race/ethnicity were found for network size, density, having concurrent partners, or having partners with ≥10 years age difference. 

Specific network composition characteristics may explain racial/ethnic disparities in HIV infection rates among MSM, including HIV status of sex partners in networks and lack of social support within sexual networks. Network structural characteristics such as size and density do not appear to have such an impact. 

These data add to our understanding of the complexity of social factors affecting black MSM and Hispanic MSM in the U.S.

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By:  Hong-Van Tieu, MD, MS,¹ Vijay Nandi, MPH,² Donald R. Hoover, PhD,³ Debbie Lucy, MS,¹ Kiwan Stewart,BPS,¹ Victoria Frye, DrPH,⁴ Magdalena Cerda, DrPH,⁵ Danielle Ompad, PhD,⁶ Carl Latkin, PhD,⁷ and Beryl A. Koblin, PhD,¹ on behalf of the NYC M2M Study Team

¹Laboratory of Infectious Disease Prevention, New York Blood Center, New York City, New York.

²Laboratory of Analytical Sciences, New York Blood Center, New York City, New York.

³Department of Biostatistics, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey.

⁴Laboratory of Behavioral and Social Sciences, New York Blood Center, New York City, New York.

⁵Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Davis, California.

⁶New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York City, New York.

⁷Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.

Address correspondence to:

Hong Van Tieu, MD, MS

Laboratory of Infectious Disease Prevention

Lindsley F. Kimball Research Institute

New York Blood Center

310 E. 67^th Street Suite 3-110

New York, NY 10065

E-mail: htieu@nybloodcenter.org

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HIV Diagnoses among MSM, 2005-20014, U.S.

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Sexually Transmitted Disease Diagnoses among Hispanic Immigrant & Migrant Men Who Have Sex with Men in the United States

Hispanic immigrant/migrant men who have sex with men should be at higher risk for sexually transmitted disease/human immunodeficiency virus (STD/HIV) infections given individual-level factors associated with the migration process that have been theorised to increase susceptibility to STD/HIV infections among migrant populations, yet relatively little is known if these individual level factors are actually associated with a sexually transmitted disease infection among this population.

During 2005-2007, 2576 men and women foreign-born Hispanics were surveyed at three community-based organisations offering services to immigrant/migrant communities. We analysed demographic characteristics, sexual risk behaviours, migration patterns, and factors associated with a sexually transmitted disease diagnoses (syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea) in the past 12 months among Hispanic immigrant/migrant men who have sex with men.

Of 1482 Hispanic immigrant/migrant men surveyed who reported having sex in the past 12 months, 353 (24%) reported sex with a man, and of these, 302 answered questions regarding whether or not they had been diagnosed with a bacterial sexually transmitted disease in the past year. Of these 302 men, 25% reported being married; 42% self-identified as being heterosexual and 20% as bisexual. Twenty-nine (9.6%) men reported that they received a sexually transmitted disease diagnosis in the past year. In the multivariate logistic regression model, men who reported receiving money or goods for sex had increased odds of a self-reported sexually transmitted disease diagnosis.

The prevalence of bacterial sexually transmitted diseases among Hispanic immigrant/migrant men who have sex with men is lower than the prevalence of bacterial sexually transmitted diseases among other men who have sex with men in the United States. Nevertheless, receiving money or goods for sex was significantly associated with a self-reported sexually transmitted disease diagnosis among Hispanic immigrant/migrant men who have sex with men. It is important to understand factors contributing to participation in exchange sex among this population. Human immunodeficiency virus/sexually transmitted disease prevention interventions tailored to non-gay identifying men who have sex with men are important for Hispanic immigrant/migrant men who have sex with men.

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By: Valverde EE1, DiNenno EA2, Schulden JD3, Oster A2, Painter T2.

• 1Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA evalverde@cdc.gov.
• 2Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
• 3National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH) Neuroscience Center, Bethesda, MD, USA.  

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