Five hundred seventy-seven guys (351 HIV negative, 153 HIV positive, and 73 HIV-oblivious) reported UAI in 26% of 878 on-line, and 23% of 903 offline casual partnerships. The crude OR of online dating for UAI was 1.36 (95 % CI 1.03-1.81). Backpage escorts nearest Rosebud. HIV-positive men were more likely to report UAI than HIV negative men (49% vs. 28% of partnerships). Corrected for demographic characteristics, online dating had no major effect on UAI among HIV-negative and HIV status-oblivious guys, but HIV-positive men were more likely to have UAI with online associates (aOR = 1.65 95 % CI 1.05-2.57). After correction for partner and partnership features the effect of online/offline dating on UAI among HIV-positive MSM was reduced and no longer critical.
Men who have sex with men (MSM) often utilize the Net to discover sex partners. Several research have revealed that MSM are more likely to engage in unprotected anal intercourse with sex partners they meet through the Internet (online) than with partners they meet at social places (offline) 1 - 3 This indicates that guys who acquire partners online may be at a higher risk for sexually transmitted infections (STI) and HIV 4 - 6 Although higher rates of UAI are reported with online partners, the risk of HIV transmission also depends upon precise knowledge of one's own and the sex partners' HIV status 7 - 10
A meta-evaluation in 2006 found limited evidence that acquiring a sex partner online increases the risk of unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) 3 Many previous studies compared guys with online partners to men with offline partners. However, guys preferring online dating might differ in several unmeasured regards from guys preferring offline dating, leading to incomparable behavioural profiles. A more recent meta-analysis contained several studies examining MSM with both online and offline acquired sex partners and found evidence for an association between UAI and online partners, which would suggest a mediating effect of more information on partners, (including perceived HIV status) on UAI 13
With increased acquaintance in sexual partnerships, for example by concordant ethnicity, age, lifestyle, HIV status, and raising sex frequency, the chances for UAI increase as well 14 - 16 We compared the occurrence of UAI in online acquired casual partnerships to that in offline obtained casual partnerships among MSM who reported both online and offline casual partners in the preceding six months. We hypothesised that MSM who date sex partners both online and offline, report more UAI with the casual partners they date online, and that this effect is partly explained through better understanding of partner characteristics, including HIV status.
We used data from a cross-sectional study focusing on spread of STI via sexual networks 15 Between July 2008 and August 2009 MSM were recruited from the STI outpatient clinic of the Public Health Service of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Men were eligible for participation if they reported sexual contact with men during the six months preceding the STI consultation, they were at least 18years old, and might comprehend written Dutch or English. Individuals could participate more than once, if subsequent visits to the clinic were related to a possible new STI episode. Participants were regularly screened for STI/HIV according to the standard procedures of the STI outpatient clinic 15 , 17 The study was approved by the medical ethics committee of the Academic Medical Center of Amsterdam (MEC 07/181), and written informed consent was obtained from each participant. Contained in this evaluation were guys who reported sexual contact with at least one casual partner dated online as well one casual partner dated offline.
Participants completed a standardised anonymous questionnaire during their trip to the STI outpatient clinic while waiting for preliminary evaluation results after their consultation using a nurse or doctor. The questionnaire elicited information on socio-demographics and HIV status of the participant, the three most recent partners in the preceding six months, and information on sexual behavior with those partners. A thorough description of the study design as well as the questionnaire is supplied elsewhere 15 , 18 Our chief determinant of interest, dating place (e.g., the name of a pub, park, club, or the name of a website) was obtained for every partner, and categorised into on-line (websites), and offline (physical sites) dating locations. To simplify the terminology of recognizing the partners per dating location, we refer to them as on-line or offline partners.
HIV status of the participant was got by asking the question 'Do you understand whether you are HIV infected?', with five answer alternatives: (1) I 'm certainly not HIV-contaminated; (2) I think that I am not HIV-infected; (3) I do not know; (4) I think I may be HIV-contaminated; (5) I know for sure that I 'm HIV-contaminated. We categorised this into HIV-negative (1,2), unknown (3), and HIV-positive (4,5) status. The survey enquired about the HIV status of each sex partner with the question: 'Do you understand whether this partner is HIV-contaminated?' with similar response alternatives as previously. Perceived concordance in HIV status within ventures was categorised as; (1) concordant; (2) discordant; (3) unknown. The final category represents all partnerships where the participant didn't understand his own status, or the status of his partner, or both. In this study the HIV status of the participant is self-reported and self-perceived. The HIV status of the sexual partner is as perceived by the participant.
In order to investigate possible disclosure of HIV status we also asked the participant whether the casual sex partner understood the HIV status of the participant, together with the answer alternatives: (1) no, (2) maybe, (3) yes. Backpage Escorts near me Rosebud, Alberta. Sexual conduct with each partner was dichotomised as: (1) no anal intercourse or simply protected anal intercourse, and (2) unprotected anal intercourse. To determine the subculture, we asked whether the participant characterised himself or his partners as belonging to one or more of the subsequent subcultures/lifestyles: casual, formal, substitute, drag, leather, military, sports, trendy, punk/skinhead, rubber/lycra, gothic, bear, jeans, skater, or, if not one of these features were applicable, other. Concordant lifestyle was categorised as: (1) concordant; (2) discordant. Chance partner kind was categorised by the participants into (1) known traceable and (2) anonymous partners.
We compared characteristics of participants by self-reported HIV status (using 2-tests for dichotomous and categorical variables and using rank sum test for continuous variables). We compared features of participants, partners, and venture sexual behaviour by on-line or offline venture, and calculated P values predicated on logistic regression with robust standard errors, accounting for related data. Continuous variables (i.e., age, number of sex partners) are reported as medians with an interquartile range (IQR), and were categorised for inclusion in multivariate models. Random effects logistic regression models were used to analyze the association between dating place (online versus offline) and UAI. Likelihood ratio tests were used to assess the importance of a variable in a model.
Prior to the evaluations we developed a directed acyclic graph (DAG) representing a causal model of UAI. In this model some variants were putative causes (self-reported HIV status; on-line partner acquisition), others were considered as confounders (participants' age, participants' ethnicity, and no. Backpage Escorts nearby Rosebud, Canada. Backpage Escorts Near Me Rosedale Alberta. Backpage Escorts Near Me Rose Lynn Alberta. of male sex partners in preceding 6months), and some were assumed to be on the causal pathway between the main exposure of interest and results (age difference between participant and partner; ethnic concordance; concordance in life styles; HIV concordance; partnership type; sex frequency within venture; group sex with partner; sex-related substance use in partnership).