As such, the analytic sample for this paper consisted of 147 men.
To address these limitations, we conducted an event-level analysis to determine the association between the venues where GBMSM met their sex partners and subsequent CAS among a sample of men recruited from gay bars and clubs,, and sex parties.ĭue to software failure, two ACASI interviews were lost and a third TLFB interview was lost due to human error. With few exceptions, 5, 15 there has been little work to connect sexual behaviors with the actual venue where a partner was met-an event-level analysis. In addition, although research has examined if men who meet partners via sex parties differ from men who do not (in general), 22, 26 it remains unclear if meeting a partner at a sex party is associated with elevated risk at the event level. In spite of data suggesting sex party attendance might be common among GBMSM, there are few comparative analyses showing levels of risk among partners met via sex parties relative to other venues. 22 A diary study of HIV-positive GBMSM found that sexual encounters taking place at a sex party had six times the odds of CAS occurring with serodiscordant partners. One study found that GBMSM who attended sex parties in the last year were significantly more likely to report recent CAS than men who had never been to a sex party and men who had been to a sex party greater than a year ago. Researchers have found the venue in which partners were met might be associated with differential levels of CAS. 22 At sex parties, men engage in frequent partnering and a variety of sexual acts with HIV-negative and HIV-positive men, which increases the opportunity for HIV/STI transmission. 6 A 2014 study from a US online survey of GBMSM found 45.2% had been to a sex party in the last year. 16, 18– 21 A community-based study of GBMSM in NYC and Los Angeles reported 54.8% met a recent male sex partner via a bar/club and 24.9% had met a sex partner via a sex party.
15 Meanwhile, physical venues have also been the subject of inquiry, including gay bars/clubs, 4, 6, 16, 17 and sex parties.
Much of the recent research on venues has focused on the Internet as a primary source of sexual partnering, 10– 14 and researchers have spent considerable time determining whether meeting partners on the Internet is associated with greater risk for condomless anal sex (CAS). 3 Venues have been the subject of inquiry because they represent a physical space where the target population can be identified, the population can potentially be intervened upon before a risky behavior occurs, and because there may be aspects of the venues themselves that contribute to risk. 2 Since the beginning of the epidemic, researchers have investigated how the venues where GBMSM meet their partners might influence HIV transmission risk behaviors. Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) are 44 times more likely to contract HIV than other men 1 and accounted for nearly two-thirds of new diagnoses in 2011-up from 59% in 2008.