title: Characteristics of gay and bisexual men who drop out of a web survey of sexual behaviour in the UK.
abstract: An invitation to take part in a web survey of sexual behaviour appeared on two popular websites for gay men in the UK in May and June 2003. As soon as men began the survey, their responses were recorded. If they quit before the end, the point at which they stopped was identified. Men clicked into the survey a total of 4,271 times and 2,752 (64%) respondents completed it. The median last question reached by respondents who dropped out was question number 20 out of 158. Multivariate analysis indicated that drop out was related to ethnic group, openness about sexual orientation and age. The results suggest that MSM who use the Internet to seek sexual partners may be younger, more likely to be from an ethnic minority and less open about their sexuality than web surveys indicate. This has implications for the development of online HIV and STI interventions.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Sciences, City University, London, UK. alisone@gum.ucl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Alison Ruth
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: Richard Donovan
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Wiggins
authors.forename: Graham
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bolding
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Elford
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001727:Bisexuality / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003625:Data Collection; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010352:Patient Dropouts / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012747:Sexual Partners; D006113:United Kingdom; D047568:Unsafe Sex / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult