Sexual Preferences and Presentation on Geosocial Networking Apps by Indian Men Who Have Sex With Men in Maharashtra

Rhoton, Jayson; Wilkerson, J. Michael; Mengle, Shruta; Patankar, Pallav; Rosser, B. R. Simon

doi:10.2196/mhealth.5600

Cited by 19 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…We have also seen that more than 80% of MSM use multiple sites, and also have multiple identities registered on a single site. This is also in concurrence with previous research 25 – 27 . Estimating the size of this population based on total counts of registered MSM at various virtual sites, without adjusting for these duplications will lead to an over-representation of the population size manyfold more than the actual numbers 11 .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Mapping virtual platforms to estimate the population size of men who have sex with men (MSM) who use internet to find sexual partners: implications to enhance HIV prevention among MSM in Kenya

et al. 2020

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Introduction: Men who have sex with men (MSM) in Kenya face a disproportionate HIV disease burden. Over the last few years, the use of virtual platforms and internet sites to seek male sexual partners has increased manyfold in Kenya. New approaches are required to map, estimate and profile MSM who operate through virtual platforms to design interventions for them. Methods: This study was conducted in three counties in Kenya: Kiambu, Kisumu and Mombasa with MSM who use virtual platforms such as geosocial networking (GSN) and social networking applications to find and connect with male sex partners. The platforms were profiled through a multi-stage approach and the number of MSM associated with these platforms were estimated. In the final stage, 435 respondents randomly selected from the virtual platforms were interviewed in a secure location after informed consent. Data analysis focused on calculating an estimate of MSM for each virtual platform in each site, adjusting for duplicate profiles and multiple registrations. Results: We identified 24 GSN apps, 18 Facebook accounts/pages and 18 WhatsApp groups across the three counties, with Facebook being the preferred platform. Kiambu had the highest number of estimated MSM at 3,635 (95%CI = 3,335 to 3,990) followed by Kisumu at 1,567 (95%CI = 1,480 to 1,665) and Mombasa at 1,469 (95%CI = 1,335 to 1,604) who used virtual platforms to find other male sexual partners. On average, each MSM had 3.7 profiles on multiple platforms, with an average of 2.1 profiles used in the past month. Conclusions: The use of conventional population size estimation approaches that focus on physical sites alone may underestimate the total number of MSM in a geography. Virtual mapping should be used in conjunction with conventional hot spot based size estimation methodologies to estimate numbers of MSM to set programmatic targets.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Mapping virtual platforms to estimate the population size of men who have sex with men (MSM) who use internet to find sexual partners: implications to enhance HIV prevention among MSM in Kenya

et al. 2020

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“…Currently, Internet penetration in India is at 35% (www.internetlivestats.com) and the use of smartphones is rapidly increasing (International Data Corporation, 2016). With this increasing access to the internet and geospatial social networking (GSN) applications, many Indian MSM and transgenders/ hijras now seek sexual partners solely on virtual platforms (Rhoton et al, in press). With such changing dynamics but existing research based on physical cruising sites, much remains to be understood about internet-using Indian MSM and transgenders/ hijras , their sexual identities, partner seeking, risk behaviors, “outness”, and mental health.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual identity and behavior in an online sample of Indian men who have sex with men

et al. 2016

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Indian men who have sex with men are disproportionately impacted by HIV. While prevention efforts to date have focused on men who visit drop-in centers or physical cruising sites, little is known about men who are meeting sexual partners on virtual platforms. This paper explores issues related to sexual identity and sexual behaviors in an online sample of men who identified as gay (n=279) or bisexual (n=123). There were significant differences in outedness between the two groups, with 48% of bisexually-identified men reporting that they were out to “no one” and 82% stating that they present themselves as heterosexual to family and friends. Corresponding rates for gay-identified men were 15% and 41%, respectively (both p <0.001). Twenty-nine percent of bisexually-identified men reported being married, compared to only 3% of the gay-identified men (p< 0.001). Bisexually-identified men were also more likely to report having exclusively insertive anal sex (49% vs 30% p< 0.001), while gay-identified men were more likely to report exclusively receptive anal sex (41% vs 13% p< 0.0001). Rates of unprotected anal sex in the two groups was similar, however married men were significantly more li kely to report unprotected vaginal sex (76% vs 35%, p <0.012). Positive attitudes toward unprotected anal sex and lower self-efficacy were associated with sexual risk in both groups, however, substance use was associated with sexual risk only among bisexually-identified men. These findings show that a large proportion of Indian bisexually-identified men lead closeted lives, especially in their interactions with friends and family, with the vast majority presenting as heterosexual. The lower condom use with wives may be due to societal pressures to have children. The results suggest that bisexually-identified men may benefit from targeted programs and non-directive, non-judgmental individual or couples counseling which emphasizes condom use with both male and female partners.

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“…These conditions coupled with lack of information about HIV prevention and condoms might increase the risk of unsafe sex and chances of HIV acquisition [17, 39, 51]. Overcrowded urban areas also known to have concentrations of other HRGs like FSW, MSM etc., which can further fuel the HIV epidemic in these districts [4, 5, 54, 55]. Another factor which may lead to higher HIV prevalence in these economically developed districts is the better availability of antiretroviral treatment and other medical facilities, which can cause in-migration of HIV positive persons as well as better survival of HIV positive patients in these districts.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determinants of consistently high HIV prevalence in Indian Districts: A multi-level analysis

Joshi

Mehendale

2019

PLoS ONE

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Introduction Factors associated with persistently high Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) prevalence levels in several districts of India are not well understood. This study was undertaken to determine the association of socio-demographic characteristics, economic factors, awareness about HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), and condom use with consistently high HIV prevalence in the Indian districts and to ascertain whether these associations differed across various regions of India. Methods This study was carried out including all 640 districts of India. Secondary analysis of data obtained from the Census of India-2011, HIV Sentinel Surveillance in India and District Level Household Survey-III was done. Population profile, socio-economic characteristics, levels of HIV/STI/condom awareness and condom use, were compared between the districts with and without consistently high HIV prevalence. Due to the presence of collinearity among predictor variables, we used principal component analysis and the principal component scores were included as covariates for further analysis. Considering the districts at level 1 and the regions at level 2, multi-level analysis was done by generalised linear mixed models. Variance partition coefficient and median odds ratio were also calculated. Results Sixty-three districts with consistently high HIV prevalence were found clustered in the South and the North-east regions of India. Population size, density and urbanisation were found to be positively associated with consistently high HIV prevalence in these districts. Higher levels of literacy, better socio-economic status, higher proportion of population in reproductive age group and late marriages were positively associated with consistently high HIV prevalence in all regions of India except in the Southern region. Higher levels of knowledge about the role of condoms in HIV prevention and condom use were associated with low HIV prevalence at the district level. Conclusions Considerable heterogeneity among factors associated with consistently high HIV prevalence at the district level in different regions of India necessitates special region-specific strategies for HIV control. Increasing awareness about HIV alone is not sufficient for controlling the HIV epidemic and there is a need to raise knowledge levels about preventive measures against HIV and promote the use of condoms amongst population.

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Sexual Preferences and Presentation on Geosocial Networking Apps by Indian Men Who Have Sex With Men in Maharashtra

Cited by 19 publications

References 16 publications

Mapping virtual platforms to estimate the population size of men who have sex with men (MSM) who use internet to find sexual partners: implications to enhance HIV prevention among MSM in Kenya

Mapping virtual platforms to estimate the population size of men who have sex with men (MSM) who use internet to find sexual partners: implications to enhance HIV prevention among MSM in Kenya

Sexual identity and behavior in an online sample of Indian men who have sex with men

Determinants of consistently high HIV prevalence in Indian Districts: A multi-level analysis

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