Top

Published in:

01-06-2013 | Original Paper

Seroadaptation in a Sample of Very Poor Los Angeles Area Men Who Have Sex with Men

Authors: Ryan D. Murphy, Pamina M. Gorbach, Robert E. Weiss, Christopher Hucks-Ortiz, Steven J. Shoptaw

Published in: AIDS and Behavior | Issue 5/2013

Abstract

Data from 635 very poor men who have sex with men (MSM) were used to identify seroadaptation with 1,102 male partners reported between 2005 and 2007 in Los Angeles as part of the Sexual Acquisition and Transmission of HIV Cooperative Agreement Program. The mean age of the sample was 41.7 years; 53 % had experienced homelessness in the past year. Condoms were reported in 51 % of sexual events involving anal intercourse. HIV seroconcordance was reported in 41 % of sexual partnerships among HIV-positive participants. HIV-positive men were more likely to have oral-only or unprotected receptive anal intercourse and less likely to have unprotected insertive anal intercourse with HIV-negative or unknown partners compared to HIV-positive partners. Even in the face of poverty, HIV-positive MSM report mitigating risks of HIV-transmission though seroadaptation in the context of modest rates of condom use.

Snowden JM, Raymond HF, McFarland W. Prevalence of seroadaptive behaviours of men who have sex with men, San Francisco, 2004. Sex Transm Infect. 2009;85(6):469–76.PubMedCrossRef

Hall HI, Song R, Rhodes P, Prejean J, An Q, Lee LM, et al. Estimation of HIV incidence in the United States. JAMA. 2008;300(5):520–9.PubMedCrossRef

Snowden JM, Raymond HF, McFarland W. Seroadaptive behaviours among men who have sex with men in San Francisco: the situation in 2008. Sex Transm Infect. 2011;87(2):162–4.PubMedCrossRef

HIV Epidemiology Program, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. An Epidemiologic Profile of HIV and AIDS in Los Angeles County, 2009. http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/wwwfiles/ph/hae/hiv/2009-epi.pdf. Accessed 22 March 2012.

Siconolfi DE, Moeller RW. Serosorting. BETA. 2007;19(2):45–9.PubMed

Van de Ven P, Kippax S, Crawford J, Rawstorne P, Prestage G, Grulich A, et al. In a minority of gay men, sexual risk practice indicates strategic positioning for perceived risk reduction rather than unbridled sex. AIDS Care. 2002;14(4):471–80.PubMed

Kippax S, Race K. Sustaining safe practice: twenty years on. Soc Sci Med. 2003;57(1):1–12.PubMedCrossRef

Vittinghoff E, Douglas J, Judson F, McKirnan D, MacQueen K, Buchbinder SP. Per-contact risk of human immunodeficiency virus transmission between male sexual partners. Am J Epidemiol. 1999;150(3):306–11.PubMedCrossRef

Parsons JT, Schrimshaw EW, Wolitski RJ, Halkitis PN, Purcell DW, Hoff CC, et al. Sexual harm reduction practices of HIV-seropositive gay and bisexual men: serosorting, strategic positioning, and withdrawal before ejaculation. AIDS. 2005;19(Suppl 1):S13–25.PubMedCrossRef

10.

van den Boom W, Stolte I, Sandfort T, Davidovich U. Serosorting and sexual risk behaviour according to different casual partnership types among MSM: the study of one-night stands and sex buddies. AIDS Care. 2011;27(12):1311–6.

11.

McFarland W, Chen YH, Nguyen B, Grasso M, Levine D, Stall R, et al. Behavior, intention or chance? A longitudinal study of HIV seroadaptive behaviors, abstinence and condom use. AIDS Behav. 2011;16(1):121–31.CrossRef

12.

McFarland W, Chen YH, Raymond HF, Nguyen B, Colfax G, Mehrtens J, et al. HIV seroadaptation among individuals, within sexual dyads, and by sexual episodes, men who have sex with men, San Francisco, 2008. AIDS Care. 2011;23(3):261–8.PubMedCrossRef

13.

Wei C, Raymond HF, Guadamuz TE, Stall R, Colfax GN, Snowden JM, et al. Racial/Ethnic differences in seroadaptive and serodisclosure behaviors among men who have sex with men. AIDS Behav. 2011;15(1):22–9.PubMedCrossRef

14.

Cassels S, Menza TW, Goodreau SM, Golden MR. HIV serosorting as a harm reduction strategy: evidence from Seattle Washington. AIDS. 2009;23(18):2497–506.PubMedCrossRef

15.

Philip SS, Yu X, Donnell D, Vittinghoff E, Buchbinder S. Serosorting is associated with a decreased risk of HIV seroconversion in the EXPLORE study cohort. PLoS ONE. 2010;5(9):e12662.PubMedCrossRef

16.

Heymer KJ, Wilson D. Available evidence does not support serosorting as an HIV risk reduction strategy. AIDS. 2010;24(6):935–6.PubMedCrossRef

17.

Eaton LA, Kalichman SC, O’Connell DA, Karchner WD. A strategy for selecting sexual partners believed to pose little/no risks for HIV: serosorting and its implications for HIV transmission. AIDS Care. 2009;21(10):1279–88.PubMedCrossRef

18.

Golden MR, Stekler J, Hughes JP, Wood RW. HIV serosorting in men who have sex with men: is it safe? J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2008;49(2):212–8.PubMedCrossRef

19.

Pinkerton SD, Acute HIV. Infection increases the dangers of serosorting. Am J Prev Med. 2008;35(2):184.PubMedCrossRef

20.

Butler DM, Smith DM. Serosorting can potentially increase HIV transmissions. AIDS. 2007;21(9):1218–20.PubMedCrossRef

21.

Marks G, Millett GA, Bingham T, Lauby J, Murrill CS, Stueve A. Prevalence and protective value of serosorting and strategic positioning among black and latino men who have sex with men. Sex Transm Dis. 2010;37(5):325–7.PubMed

22.

23.

Jin F, Prestage GP, Ellard J, Kippax SC, Kaldor JM, Grulich AE. How homosexual men believe they became infected with HIV: the role of risk-reduction behaviors. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2007;46(2):245–7.PubMedCrossRef

24.

Parsons JT, Severino J, Nanin J, Punzalan JC, von Sternberg K, Missildine W, et al. Positive, negative, unknown: assumptions of HIV status among HIV-positive men who have sex with men. AIDS Educ Prev. 2006;18(2):139–49.PubMedCrossRef

25.

Zablotska IB, Imrie J, Prestage G, Crawford J, Rawstorne P, Grulich A, et al. Gay men’s current practice of HIV seroconcordant unprotected anal intercourse: serosorting or seroguessing? AIDS Care. 2009;21(4):501–10.PubMedCrossRef

26.

German D, Sifakis F, Maulsby C, Towe VL, Flynn CP, Latkin CA, et al. Persistently high prevalence and unrecognized HIV infection among men who have sex with men in Baltimore: the BESURE study. JAIDS. 2011;57(1):77–87.PubMedCrossRef

27.

Gorbach PM, Weiss RE, Jeffries R, Javanbakht M, Drumright LN, Daar ES, et al. Behaviors of recently HIV-infected men who have sex with men in the year postdiagnosis: effects of drug use and partner types. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2011;56(2):176–82.PubMedCrossRef

28.

Marcus U, Schmidt AJ, Hamouda O. HIV serosorting among HIV-positive men who have sex with men is associated with increased self-reported incidence of bacterial sexually transmissible infections. Sex Health. 2011;8(2):184–93.PubMedCrossRef

29.

Truong HM, Kellogg T, Klausner JD, Katz MH, Dilley J, Knapper K, et al. Increases in sexually transmitted infections and sexual risk behaviour without a concurrent increase in HIV incidence among men who have sex with men in San Francisco: a suggestion of HIV serosorting? Sex Transm Infect. 2006;82(6):461–6.PubMedCrossRef

30.

Tieu HV, Xu G, Bonner S, Spikes P, Egan JE, Goodman K, et al. Sexual partner characteristics, Serodiscordant/Serostatus unknown unprotected anal intercourse and disclosure among human immunodeficiency virus-infected and uninfected black men who have sex with men in New York City. Sex Transm Dis. 2011;42(3):370–80.

31.

Xia Q, Osmond DH, Tholandi M, Pollack LM, Zhou W, Ruiz JD, et al. HIV prevalence and sexual risk behaviors among men who have sex with men: results from a statewide population-based survey in California. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2006;41(2):238–45.PubMedCrossRef

32.

Lieb S, Prejean J, Thompson DR, Fallon SJ, Cooper H, Gates GJ, et al. HIV prevalence rates among men who have sex with men in the southern United States: population-based estimates by Race/Ethnicity. AIDS Behav. 2010;23(4):210–23.

33.

Robertson MJ, Clark RA, Charlebois ED, Tulsky J, Long HL, Bangsberg DR, et al. HIV seroprevalence among homeless and marginally housed adults in San Francisco. Am J Public Health. 2004;94(7):1207–17.PubMedCrossRef

34.

Javanbakht M, Murphy R, Harawa NT, Smith LV, Hayes M, Chien M, et al. Sexually transmitted infections and HIV prevalence among incarcerated men who have sex with men, 2000–2005. Sex Transm Dis. 2009;36(2 Suppl):S17–21.PubMed

35.

Arriola KR, Braithwaite RL, Kennedy S, Hammett T, Tinsley M, Wood P, et al. A collaborative effort to enhance HIV/STI screening in five county jails. Public Health Rep. 2001;116(6):520–9.PubMed

36.

Hixson BA, Omer SB, del Rio C, Frew PM. Spatial clustering of HIV prevalence in Atlanta, Georgia and population characteristics associated with case concentrations. J Urban Health. 2011;88(1):129–41.PubMedCrossRef

37.

Iguchi MY, Ober AJ, Berry SH, Fain T, Heckathorn DD, Gorbach PM, et al. Simultaneous recruitment of drug users and men who have sex with men in the United States and Russia using respondent-driven sampling: sampling methods and implications. J Urban Health. 2009;86(Suppl 1):5–31.PubMedCrossRef

38.

Gorbach PM, Murphy R, Weiss RE, Hucks-Ortiz C, Shoptaw S. Bridging sexual boundaries: men who have sex with men and women in a street-based sample in Los Angeles. J Urban Health. 2009;86(Suppl 1):63–76.PubMedCrossRef

39.

Kushel MB, Colfax G, Ragland K, Heineman A, Palacio H, Bangsberg DR. Case management is associated with improved antiretroviral adherence and CD4+ cell counts in homeless and marginally housed individuals with HIV infection. Clin Infect Dis. 2006;43(2):234–42.PubMedCrossRef

40.

Moss AR, Hahn JA, Perry S, Charlebois ED, Guzman D, Clark RA, et al. Adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy in the homeless population in San Francisco: a prospective study. Clin Infect Dis. 2004;39(8):1190–8.PubMedCrossRef

41.

Los Angeles Country Department of Public Health. An epidemiologic profile of HIV and AIDS in Los Angeles country. In: HIV Epidemiology program, Los Angeles Country Department of Public Health; 2009.

42.

Golub SA, Starks TJ, Payton G, Parsons JT. The critical role of intimacy in the sexual risk behaviors of gay and bisexual men. AIDS Behav. 2011;15(3):509–20.PubMedCrossRef

43.

Theodore PS, Duran RE, Antoni MH, Fernandez MI. Intimacy and sexual behavior among HIV-positive men-who-have-sex-with-men in primary relationships. AIDS Behav. 2004;8(3):321–31.PubMedCrossRef

44.

Sullivan PS, Salazar L, Buchbinder S, Sanchez TH. Estimating the proportion of HIV transmissions from main sex partners among men who have sex with men in five US cities. AIDS. 2009;23(9):1153–62.PubMedCrossRef

45.

Davidovich U, de Wit J, Albrecht N, Geskus R, Stroebe W, Coutinho R. Increase in the share of steady partners as a source of HIV infection: a 17-year study of seroconversion among gay men. AIDS. 2001;15(10):1303–8.PubMedCrossRef

46.

Harawa NT, Williams JK, Ramamurthi HC, Bingham TA. Perceptions towards condom use, sexual activity, and HIV disclosure among HIV-positive African American men who have sex with men: implications for heterosexual transmission. J Urban Health. 2006;83(4):682–94.PubMedCrossRef

47.

Walls NE, Bell S. Correlates of engaging in survival sex among homeless youth and young adults. J Sex Res. 2011;48(5):423–36.PubMedCrossRef

48.

Marshall BD, Shannon K, Kerr T, Zhang R, Wood E. Survival sex work and increased HIV risk among sexual minority street-involved youth. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2010;53(5):661–4.PubMed

49.

Haley N, Roy E, Leclerc P, Boudreau JF, Boivin JF. HIV risk profile of male street youth involved in survival sex. Sex Transm Infect. 2004;80(6):526–30.PubMedCrossRef

50.

Burt RD, Hagan H, Sabin K, Thiede H. Evaluating respondent-driven sampling in a major metropolitan area: comparing injection drug users in the 2005 Seattle area national HIV behavioral surveillance system survey with participants in the RAVEN and Kiwi studies. Ann Epidemiol. 2010;20(2):159–67.PubMedCrossRef

51.

Reback CJ, Kamien JB, Amass L. Characteristics and HIV risk behaviors of homeless, substance-using men who have sex with men. Addict Behav. 2007;32(3):647–54.PubMedCrossRef

52.

Robbins JL, Wenger L, Lorvick J, Shiboski C, Kral AH. Health and oral health care needs and health care-seeking behavior among homeless injection drug users in san francisco. J Urban Health. 2010;87(6):920–30.PubMedCrossRef

53.

Palepu A, Milloy MJ, Kerr T, Zhang R, Wood E. Homelessness and adherence to antiretroviral therapy among a cohort of HIV-infected injection drug users. J Urban Health. 2011;88(3):545–55.PubMedCrossRef

54.

Nelson KM, Thiede H, Hawes SE, Golden MR, Hutcheson R, Carey JW, et al. Why the wait? Delayed HIV diagnosis among men who have sex with men. J Urban Health. 2010;87(4):642–55.PubMedCrossRef

Title: Seroadaptation in a Sample of Very Poor Los Angeles Area Men Who Have Sex with Men
Authors: Ryan D. Murphy
Pamina M. Gorbach
Robert E. Weiss
Christopher Hucks-Ortiz
Steven J. Shoptaw
Publication date: 01-06-2013
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: AIDS and Behavior / Issue 5/2013
Print ISSN: 1090-7165
Electronic ISSN: 1573-3254
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-012-0213-2

ACC 2024 Congress Coverage

Heart Failure Video

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

Springer Medicine

Seroadaptation in a Sample of Very Poor Los Angeles Area Men Who Have Sex with Men

Abstract

ACC 2024 Congress Coverage

Year in Review: Heart failure and cardiomyopathies

Semaglutide benefits people with type 2 diabetes and obesity-related heart failure

Incentivised to exercise

New intervention for STEMI-related cardiogenic shock

» View more highlights on the ACC 2024 congress hub page

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 5/2013

Alcohol Consumption Trajectory Patterns in Adult Women with HIV Infection

Relationship Between Alcohol Consumption Prior to Sex, Unprotected Sex and Prevalence of STI/HIV Among Socially Marginalized Men in Three Coastal Cities of Peru

Moderating Effect of Age on the Association Between Alcohol Use and Sexual Risk in MSM: Evidence for Elevated Risk Among Younger MSM

Food Insecurity, CD4 Counts, and Incomplete Viral Suppression Among HIV+ Patients from Texas Children’s Hospital: A Pilot Study

Experiences of Stigma, Discrimination, Care and Support Among People Living with HIV: A Four Country Study

What’s Sex Got to Do with It? The Role of Sexual Affect in the Relationship Between HIV Stigma and Mental Health

ACC 2024 Congress Coverage

Year in Review: Heart failure and cardiomyopathies

Semaglutide benefits people with type 2 diabetes and obesity-related heart failure

Incentivised to exercise

New intervention for STEMI-related cardiogenic shock

» View more highlights on the ACC 2024 congress hub page