The Strategies of Heterosexuals from Large Metropolitan Areas for Assessing the Risks of Exposure to HIV or Other Sexually Transmitted Infections from Partners Met Online

Abstract

Heterosexuals' use of the Internet for meeting romantic or sexual partners is rapidly increasing, raising concerns about the Internet's potential to facilitate encounters that place individuals at risk for acquiring HIV or other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). For example, online sharing of personal information and self-revelations can foster virtual intimacy, promoting a false sense of familiarity that might accelerate progression to unprotected sex. Therefore, it is critical to understand how those who meet sexual partners online attempt to assess the possible risk of acquiring HIV or STIs posed by having unprotected sex with a new partner and decide whether to use a condom. To investigate this issue, in-depth interviews were conducted with a diverse sample of heterosexual male and female participants from large metropolitan cities who had had unprotected vaginal or anal sex with at least two partners met online in the past 3 months. With few exceptions, participants relied on faulty strategies and heuristics to estimate these risks; yet, most engaged in unprotected sex at their first meeting or very soon afterward. While some seemed to try to make a genuine effort to arrive at a reliable assessment of the HIV risk posed, most appeared to be looking for a way to justify their desire and intention to have unprotected sex. The findings suggest the need for more HIV and sexual health education targeted at heterosexuals, especially for those who go online to meet partners.

The patient rationale for seeking HIV PEP: Qualitative results from a nurse‐led program

“…The extant literature examining individuals' own HIV risk appraisals indicates that the relationship between perceived and actual risk is complex, and that perceived risk is only weakly associated with what is classified as actual risk according to epidemiological correlates (Gerrard, Gibbons, & Bushman, 1996;Holtzman, Bland, Lansky, & Mack, 2001;Kesler et al, 2016;Klein, Elifson, & Sterk, 2003;Klepinger, Billy, Tanfer, & Grady, 1993;Koh & Yong, 2014;Maurier & Northcott, 2000;Mayer et al, 2012;Prata, Morris, Mazive, Vahidnia, & Stehr, 2006;Siegel, Lekas, Onaga, Verni, & Gunn, 2017). Of particular note is that in many cases, the main element used by individuals in assessing risk is the perceived personal characteristics of their sexual partner.…”

Observational study of factors associated with return of home sampling kits for sexually transmitted infections requested online in the UK

“…We found that heterosexual men and those from neighbourhoods with higher socioeconomic deprivation were less likely to return their sampling kits. As these are populations at risk of STI and HIV, 19 increasing the return rate of sampling kits from these populations is a priority for our service. However, based on the data available from the surveys, we were not able to hypothesise as to why these groups were less likely to return their samples and, as such, are not able to propose changes to the service to improve sample return.…”

Accounts for Unprotected Sex with Partners Met Online from Heterosexual Men and Women from Large US Metropolitan Areas

“…A complete description of the recruitment and screening procedures has been published in a report of a different aim of this study. 44 The data analyzed for this report come for the in-depth interviews. One of the study aims was to investigate how relationships developed online and progressed to meeting offline, to sexual contact, and eventually to unprotected sex.…”