Sexual activities and condom use among heterosexual men and women engaged in mixed-gender group sex events in Melbourne, Australia

Abstract

Background. Few studies investigate group sex among heterosexuals. The aim of this study was to provide an exploration of characteristics and practices among heterosexual men and women who engage in group sex. Method. We conducted a cross-sectional survey between May 2019 and March 2020 among heterosexual men and women attending a sexual health clinic in Melbourne, Australia. Participants were asked whether they had participated in group sex (sex involving more than two participants) in the past 3 months, the size of the most recent event, sexual activities in which they engaged, and condom use. Results. Of 3277 heterosexuals surveyed (1509 women and 1768 men), the mean age was 29.9 years (s.d. 8.8) and more than half (56.0%, n = 1834) were born outside Australia. One in 20 participants (5.4%) had engaged in group sex in the past 3 months with the number of events ranging 1-10 times. Kissing was the most common activity in group sex, and women were significantly more likely to kiss a same-sex partner than men. Overall, of 165 participants who engaged in vaginal sex, 57 (34.5%) reported always using condoms and changing condoms between consecutive partners. Of the 100 men and women who had condomless vaginal sex, 79 (79.0%) received or performed fellatio after condomless vaginal sex. Conclusion. About two-thirds of heterosexuals who engaged in group sex neither used condoms nor changed condoms between partners in the most recent group sex event. Safe sex messages on changing condoms between partners and between sexual activities should be reinforced for sexually transmitted infections prevention.

High-Risk Sexual Activities and Condom Use Patterns During Group Sex Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in Melbourne, Australia

“…Furthermore, the participation in our study was low (18%) but this is similar to other populations such as heterosexuals and sex workers in our study. 4 , 13 The low participation in our study might be due to survey fatigue given it was placed after the clinical routine questionnaire. Other methods of survey dissemination such as SMS should be considered in future studies to increase the participation rate.…”

“…This analysis focused on MSM only because findings for the other 3 populations have been published elsewhere. 4 , 13 In this study, we defined MSM as men who had sex with another man in the past 12 months. Men who were sex workers were excluded from this analysis because their sexual activities and condom use might be different than MSM who do not engage in sex work.…”

STI pathogens in the oropharynx: update on screening and treatment

“…Charleson et al [42 ▪ ] summarised the existing evidence from six studies suggesting tongue kissing may be a neglected risk factor for oropharyngeal gonorrhoea although all these six studies were conducted among MSM in Australia and with its limitations [38 ▪▪ ,39 ▪ ,43–46]. Further studies on non-MSM populations will be required given kissing is also a common practice in other populations [47 ▪ –50 ▪ ,51–54]. Furthermore, several empirical studies have also demonstrated that condomless oral-genital sex is less likely associated with oropharyngeal gonorrhoea even if the study population has a high number of oral-genital sexual partners [38 ▪▪ ,55], which is also supported by mathematical modelling studies [56,57 ▪ ,58].…”