362P
SOCIAL NORMS AMONG GAY MEN REGARDING DISCLOSURE-RELATED BEHAVIOURS AMONG HIV+ AND HIV– GAY MEN
W Medved1, TM Lampinen2, K Chan3, P Banks4, R Marchand5, T Trussler5, L Calzavara1
¹Polaris Study, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario; 2BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS; 3Vanguard Project, BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS; 4Gayway Program, AIDS Vancouver; 5Community Based Research Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia
Background: Current social norms surrounding disclosure of HIV serostatus by gay men are poorly understood.
Objectives: Compare HIV+ and HIV– gay men's self-reported risk behaviours, ability to discern partners' HIV status, and disclosure-related behaviours of sexual partners.
Methods: 327 HIV+ and HIV– men enrolled in cohort studies in Toronto and Vancouver completed in June 2004 a 5-minute self-administered questionnaire that included 7 items pertaining to how they believe their sexual partners behave, stratified by partner serostatus. Group comparisons were performed using Chi-square and Wilcoxon tests; adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were computed using logistic regression.
Results: The median age of the 271 HIV– and 56 HIV+ respondents was 33 years; most were white (76%) and college educated (61%); any previous unprotected anal intercourse with a partner having unknown HIV serostatus was reported by 59%. The last such encounter was more recent among HIV+ than HIV– men (median 1 versus 12 months, p<0.001) and more likely to have been during the previous year (43% versus 27%, p=0.02). Most HIV+ and most HIV- men did not agree with statements that their HIV+ or that HIV– sexual partners (a) disclose their own HIV-1 serostatus, (b) ask the respondent his HIV serostatus, or (c) ask about the need to use condoms for anal intercourse, regardless of the partner's HIV serostatus. Further, in multivariate analyses, HIV– men were more likely than HIV+ men to agree only that HIV– partners would state their serostatus before performing insertive unprotected sex (43% vs 27%, p=0.008). HIV+ men were more likely to report the ability to discern a partner's serostatus without discussion, whether that partner was HIV+ (OR 2.38, CI 1.12–5.03) or HIV– (OR 2.98, CI 1.50–5.90).
Conclusions: We were unable to identify any current normative disclosure-related behaviours in the sexual partners of gay men, including those serodiscordant.