title: Epidemiology of sexual health in the virtual environment: a multinational online survey of Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking men who use an internet sexual networking site.
abstract: There is limited data on the sexual health of users of sexual networking websites for men who have sex with men (MSM) in Latin America. Members of a MSM-targeted social/sexual networking website in Latin America, Spain, and Portugal participated in an online sexual health survey. Among 36,063 respondents, nearly 90 % reported having anal or vaginal intercourse in the past 3 months. Among sexually active men, 53.2 % used condoms inconsistently. In the past year, 54 % of respondents reported undergoing sexually transmitted infections (STI) testing and 67 % reported testing yearly or more often for HIV. Self-reported HIV prevalence was 9.1 %. Differences were seen by geographic region. Unprotected intercourse with partners of different or unknown HIV status was associated with recent STI diagnosis (OR = 1.83, t = 13.15, d.f. = 21, p < .001) and HIV diagnosis (OR = 2.20, t = 14.00, d.f. = 21, p < .001). Online surveys are a promising tool for HIV/STI surveillance and prevention internationally to reach an important subset of MSM.
authors: Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA, kbiello@fenwayhealth.org.
authors: Katie B
authors: KB
authors: Biello
authors: Joshua G
authors: JG
authors: Rosenberger
authors: David S
authors: DS
authors: Novak
authors: Angela M
authors: AM
authors: Robertson
authors: Kenneth H
authors: KH
authors: Mayer
authors: Matthew J
authors: MJ
authors: Mimiaga
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017280:Condoms / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006306:Health Surveys; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D011174:Portugal / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D060728:Reproductive Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012747:Sexual Partners; D060756:Social Networking; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult