Methods of HIV Disclosure by Men Who Have Sex with Men to Casual Sexual Partners

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to report results of a qualitative investigation into the methods that HIVpositive men who have sex with men (MSM) use to disclose their serostatus to casual sexual partners. In-depth, qualitative interviews were conducted with 57 HIV-positive adult MSM from a large midwestern city. Using an inductive approach to data analysis, our participants revealed a typology of disclosure consisting of strategies that can be placed into five primary categorizations of disclosure. These include: point-blank disclosure, indirect disclosure, stage setting, buffering, and seeking similars. This information can be especially beneficial to those working with men to develop better disclosure skills.

Gay men's current practice of HIV seroconcordant unprotected anal intercourse: serosorting or seroguessing?

“…The concurrent rises in HIV serostatus disclosure and UAI with seroconcordant partners have also been observed in some other gay communities around the world (Serovich et al, 2005). It is, however, unclear whether the observed trends in behaviors indicate intentional search for seroconcordant partners for the purpose of sex without a condom, or an increase in disclosure and UAI without specific intentions to serosort.…”

“…In the context of HIV-positive seroconcordant UAI, seroguessing may not have a major effect on HIV transmission, because assumptions of positive serostatus are usually based on information that may provide reasonable grounds for seroguessing (e.g., learning about HIV-positive status of a partner based on what pills he takes, etc.) (Serovich et al, 2005).…”

“…Disclosure in general is a reciprocal event and sometimes it is used as a method to solicit a partner's HIV serostatus (Serovich et al, 2005), thus disclosure n is the number of men who always disclosed their serostatus to casual partners.…”

“…This finding corresponds with similar reports (Poppen et al, 2005) and highlights the complexity of the disclosure. Serovich et al described various forms of disclosure which sometimes can be precluded by guessing a partner's HIV serostatus, and then a decision is made about further disclosure and the fate of the encounter (Serovich et al, 2005).…”

“…Serosorting is still considered by gay men as a risk reduction practice (Elford, 2006), but it is not clear how serosorting has been practised in the HAART era. During this time period, the perception of risk has changed and the range of HIV disclosure forms has widened (Gorbach et al, 2004;Serovich, Oliver, Smith, & Mason, 2005), to include indirect forms and assumptions (O'Leary, 2007).…”