Sex Partner Meeting Places Over Time Among Newly HIV-Diagnosed Men Who Have Sex With Men in Baltimore, Maryland

Abstract

Background Sex partner meeting places may be important locales to access men who have sex with men (MSM) and implement targeted human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) control strategies. These locales may change over time, but temporal evaluations have not been performed. Methods The objectives of this study were to describe the frequency of report of MSM sex partner meeting places over time, and to compare frequently reported meeting places in the past five years and past year among newly HIV diagnosed MSM in Baltimore City, Maryland. Public health HIV surveillance data including partner services information was obtained for this study from the Baltimore City Health Department from May 2009 to June 2014. Results 869 sex partner meeting places were reported, including 306 unique places. Bars/clubs (31%) and internet-based sites (38%) were the most frequently reported meeting place types. Over the five year period, the percentage of bars/clubs decreased over time and the percentage of internet-based sites increased over time. Among bars/clubs, 4/5 of those most frequently reported in the past five years were also most frequently reported in the most recent year. Among internet-based sites, 3/5 of those most frequently reported in the past five years were also in the top five most frequently reported in the past year. Conclusion This study provides a richer understanding of sex partner meeting places reported by MSM over time and information to health departments on types of places to access a population at high risk for HIV transmission.

The Intersection of Sociocultural Factors and Health-Related Behavior in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth

“…Public health surveillance data and several studies have demonstrated that Black MSM are more likely to live in neighborhoods with lower income [56, 57] and higher HIV prevalence [56, 58] and are more likely to have lower individual SES compared to White MSM [56]. …”

Sexually transmissible infection control programs for men who have sex with men – what will they look like in 2020?

“…While bars and bathhouses still exist, the Internet and, more recently, mobile phones serve as modern methods of meeting partners for sexual encounters, especially for younger MSM. 49,50 By the late 1990s and early 2000s, seeking sex partners via the Internet was made possible by online chat rooms and websites such as AOL, Adam4Adam, Manhunt and Craigslist. 51,52 Such websites may facilitate negotiating condomless anal intercourse with seroadaptive behaviours.…”

Overlapping Transmission Networks of Early Syphilis and/or Newly HIV Diagnosed Gay, Bisexual and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM): Opportunities for Optimizing Public Health Interventions

“…In addition, it is notable that the majority of nominated sex partner meeting places (53.1%) were online venues. Our prior work showed increasing trends in nominations of online sex partner meeting places, but also suggested that physical places remained important and highly connected to online spaces [ 22 , 34 ]. Our current work suggests that sex partner meeting venues are dynamic and for MSM, may be increasingly online.…”

“…Venues were classified into six typologies: internet/app (i.e. online), bar/club, street/park/neighborhood, market/mall, or other [ 34 ]. Venues were also classified based on the diagnoses of the individuals reporting the venue.…”