Abstract #117  -  Casual sexual encounters among gay men: familiarity, trust and unprotected anal intercourse
Authors:   Presenting Author:   Dr. Iryna Zablotska - University of New South Wales
Additional Authors:
Aim: Familiarity and history of previous sex with causal partners seems to facilitate the decision to dispense with condoms but may increase the risk of HIV transmission among gay men. We investigated these issues using event-specific data from the Sydney Gay Community Periodic Survey.
Method / Issue: Gay men recruited at community venues and sexual health clinics provided information about sexual practices and characteristics of their last casual sex encounters. We explored the relationship between the degree of familiarity with casual sex partners and outcomes such as disclosure of and knowledge of partner’s serostatus, willingness to use condom and unprotected anal intercourse with the last casual partner (UAI-LC).
Results / Comments: Among men who reported having causal sex during six months before the survey, 51% knew their last partner somewhat or very well and 49% had previously had sex with that partner. All men, independent of their discussion of condom use with the partners, were inclined to dispose with condoms if they had sex with these partners before, but this occurred more often among men who discussed condom use. HIV-negative men, with seroconcordant and nonconcordant casual partners alike, were more likely to have UAI-LC if they had sex with these partners before.
Discussion: Our findings indicate that familiarity and previous history of sex between casual partners may result in a greater sense of trust and confidence which, if this trust is compromised, may increase the risk of HIV transmission in the context of casual sex. HIV education programs should address the issue of trust and HIV disclosure in the context of casual sex, particularly with respect to men’s skills around negotiating sexual encounters, relationships and risk minimisation.
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