HIV risk behaviour among gay and bisexual men in Budapest, Hungary

Abstract

HIV is a growing public health threat in Central and Eastern Europe. In Hungary and a number of other countries, men who have sex with men (MSM) account for a high proportion of HIV infections. However, there has been very little systematic study of the sexual risk practices and characteristics of MSM in this region. This study surveyed 469 MSM recruited in Budapest gay community venues in June 2001. Half the men (50%) engaged in unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) in the past 3 months. Of these, 40% of men's insertive and 50% of their receptive acts were unprotected, and 25% had multiple AI partners in the past 3 months. 17% of MSM exchanged sex for money, 26% had female partners in the past year, and condoms were used in only 23% of their vaginal intercourse occasions. Multivariate analyses showed that high-risk behaviour was predicted by not having condoms available when needed, weak risk reduction intentions, negative attitudes toward safer sex, being in a steady relationship, and having a bisexual orientation. Community-based HIV prevention programmes focused on the needs of gay or bisexual men in Central and Eastern Europe are urgently needed.

Risk Factors Associated with Condom Use Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Ukraine

“…This study found, as reported in several other Eastern European countries, that just about onethird of MSM reported having sexual contact with a female in the past 6 months (Amirkhanian et al, 2006;Amirkhanian et al, 2001;Csepe, Amirkhanian, Kelly, McAuliffe, & Mocsonoki, 2002). Higher percentages of bisexual activity by MSM have been reported in Albania and Croatia .…”

HIV-related Sexual Risk Taking Among HIV-negative Men Who Have Sex with Men in Zagreb, Croatia

“…Cross-national comparisons also point to similarities in characteristics of the samples used in our study and those carried out in St. Petersburg, Budapest, Bratislava, and Tirana (Family Health International, 2006;Csepe et al, 2002;Stanekova et al, 2000;Amirkhanian et al, 2001;Amirkhanian et al, 2006). All but one of these studies recruited a large number of above-average educated urban MSM (roughly 40% of respondents in St. Petersburg, Budapest, and Zagreb had a college education) whose median age ranged from 25 to 29 years.…”

“…Two of the studies, the St. Petersburg and the Budapest study, analyzed correlates of condom use at last anal sex (Amirkhanian et al, 2001;Csepe et al, 2002). Of the indicators that were included in our study, the St. Petersburg study found significant effects of steady relationship and HIV knowledge.…”

“…A recent study conducted among MSM in Tirana showed that only about one quarter (27%) of MSM used condoms consistently and 58.5% of participants reported condom use at last sex with a non-commercial partner (Family Health International, 2006). A study that recruited MSM at gay venues in Budapest in 2001 found that half of participants had unprotected anal intercourse in the last three months (Csepe et al, 2002). In a 1996 study among MSM in Bratislava, less than one third of participants (29%) reported consistent condom use (Stanekova et al, 2000).…”

A randomized social network HIV prevention trial with young men who have sex with men in Russia and Bulgaria

“…In the Soviet era, homosexual behavior was criminal, and many MSM still remain hidden and receive little HIV/STD prevention. Recent studies have found high rates of unprotected sex, commercial sex, and bisexual behavior among MSM in Eastern Europe [10][11][12][13][14][15]. There is an urgent need to develop effective, culturally-pertinent HIV prevention intervention approaches for MSM in this region.…”