HIV Risk and the Internet: Results of the Men's INTernet Sex (MINTS) Study

Overview

Journal AIDS Behav

Specialty Infectious Diseases

Date 2008 May 31

PMID 18512143

Citations 60

Authors

B R Simon Rosser

Michael H Miner

Walter O Bockting

Michael W Ross

Joseph Konstan

Laura Gurak

Jeffrey Stanton

Weston Edwards

Scott Jacoby

Alex Carballo-Dieguez

Rafael Mazin

Eli Coleman

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

This study assessed the feasibility of online recruitment of high-risk Latino men who have sex with men (MSM) for HIV prevention survey research and investigated the relationship between Internet use and unsafe sex. Participants (N = 1,026) were Internet-using Latino MSM living in the U.S. recruited using online banner advertisements. Respondents completed a cross-sectional, online survey in English or Spanish. Sample characteristics reflected national statistics within 5%. Nearly all (99%) reported having used the Internet to seek sex with another man. Two-thirds of respondents reported having unprotected anal sex with > or =1 man in the last year, 57% of these with multiple partners. Participants reported engaging in anal sex and unprotected anal sex with nearly twice as many men first met online versus offline, but risk proportions did not differ. Internet-based HIV prevention research is possible even with geographically-dispersed minority populations. Efficiency appears the primary risk associated with meeting partners online.

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