HIV Serosorting, Status Disclosure, and Strategic Positioning among Highly Sexually Active Gay and Bisexual Men

Researchers have identified harm reduction strategies that gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) use to reduce HIV transmission-including serosorting, status disclosure, and strategic positioning. We report on patterns of these behaviors among 376 highly sexually active (i.e., 9+partners, <90 days) GBMSM: mean age of 37, 49.5% men of color, 87.8% gay identified, 57.5% college educated. 

We found evidence that many men engaged in serosorting, status disclosure, and strategic positioning; however, rates varied based on the participant's HIV status. HIV-positive and HIV-negative men both engaged in sex with men of similar status more often than they engaged in sex with men known to be a different HIV status (i.e., serosorting). However, HIV-negative men disclosed their HIV-status with about half of their partners, whereas HIV-positive participants disclosed with only about one-third. 

With regard to strategic positioning, HIV-positive participants were the receptive partner about half the time with their HIV-negative partners and with their HIV-positive partners. 

In contrast, strategic positioning was very common among HIV-negative participants-they rarely bottomed with HIV-positive partners, bottomed about one-third of the time with status-unknown partners, and 42% of the time (on average) with HIV-negative partners. 

Highly sexually active GBMSM are a critical population in which to both investigate HIV prevention strategies as well as develop effective intervention programs. Providers and clinicians might be well served to include a wide range of behavioral harm reduction strategies in addition to condom use and biomedical approaches to reduce onward HIV transmission.

Via; http://ht.ly/S1GzB 

By: Grov C1,2,3, Rendina HJ1, Moody RL1,4, Ventuneac A1, Parsons JT1,3,5,4,6.

• 11 The Center for HIV/AIDS Educational Studies and Training (CHEST) , New York, New York.
• 22 Department of Health and Nutrition Sciences, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York (CUNY) , Brooklyn, New York.
• 33 CUNY School of Public Health , New York, New York.
• 45 Health Psychology and Clinical Science Doctoral Program, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY) , New York, New York.
• 54 Department of Psychology, Hunter College of CUNY , New York, New York.
• 66 Basic and Applied Social Psychology Doctoral Program, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY) , New York, New York