title: Seeking sex partners through the internet and mobile phone applications among men who have sex with men in Taiwan.
abstract: It has become popular for men who have sex with men (MSM) to use mobile-phone geosocial networking applications (mobile apps) to find sex partners. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in Taiwan to compare the sexual and substance-use behaviors of MSM seeking sex partners through the internet and mobile apps. Of the 1060 participants, 65.8% used the internet via computer and 37.7% used a mobile app to find sexual partners, while 30.3% used recreational drugs or alcohol in the previous 6 months. MSM who exclusively used mobile apps to seek sex partners were significantly more likely than MSM seeking sex via computer to be older, to have used recreational drugs or alcohol, and to have sex with HIV-positive partners. Additionally, using mobile apps to seek sex partners was significantly associated with having sex with online partners through either mobile apps or computer-based internet use (adjusted odds ratio (AOR), 7.12 [3.87-13.11]), self-reporting as HIV-positive (AOR, 2.24 [1.12-4.12]), using recreational drugs (AOR, 1.67 [1.21-2.32]), having disclosed HIV status to sexual partners (AOR, 1.44 [1.03-2.02]), and having sex with HIV-positive partners (AOR, 1.81 [1.06-3.10]). In conclusion, the mobile apps may serve as a feasible platform for HIV-positive MSM to find other HIV-positive partners.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Nursing, College of Medicine , National Cheng Kung University and Hospital , Tainan , Taiwan.|b Institute of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medicine , National Cheng Kung University , Tainan , Taiwan.
authors.forename: Nai-Ying
authors.initials: NY
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.affiliation: c Department of Sociology , University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Champaign , IL , USA.
authors.forename: Po-Chia
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.affiliation: d Department of Indigenous Languages and Communication , National Dong Hwa University , Hualien , Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yu-Chao
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: b Institute of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medicine , National Cheng Kung University , Tainan , Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yen-Chin
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: e Department of Psychiatry , Kaohsiung Municipal Kai-Syuan Psychiatric Hospital , Kaohsiung , Taiwan.|f Graduate Institute of Counseling Psychology and Rehabilitation Counseling, National Kaohsiung Normal University , Kaohsiung , Taiwan.
authors.forename: Su-Ting
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Hsu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D040421:Cell Phone / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003201:Computers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D059147:HIV Serosorting / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D063731:Mobile Applications; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012747:Sexual Partners / Q000523:psychology; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: HIV risk behaviors; MSM; Sex seeking; internet; mobile app