Researchers set out to evaluate whether changes in the use of condoms reflected increased use of serosorting (only having sex with those of similar HIV status) or biomedical preventions like antiretroviral treatment. Their report, published this month in the journal AIDS, concluded that condomless sex continues to increase among men who have sex with men, but “the trends are not explained by serosorting or ART.”
The scientists reviewed data gathered by The National HIV Behavioral Surveillance Survey, which was conducted in up to 21 cities in 2005, 2008, 2011, and 2014. The survey asked more than a thousand men whether they used a condom with their last anal sex partner.
They found that declines in condom usage where seen across the board among men, whether or not their sexual partners were of the same HIV status and regardless of whether they knew their partners’ HIV status. This led researchers to conclude that the lack of condom use cannot be explained by serosorting.
In the nearly decade between 2005 and 2014, the number of HIV-negative gay and bisexual men who reported having sex without a condom rose from 29 percent to 41 percent.
As AIDSMap points out, “Condom use began to fall long before PrEP became available.”
In the surveillance survey, PrEP usage was reported by 0.5 percent of the gay and bi men in 2011. That number only rose to 3.5 percent of men in 2014, making it highly unlikely that the HIV prevention protocol played a significant role in the decline of condom use.
When it came to HIV-positive men’s usage of condoms the trend was similar: poz gay and bi men also reported higher incidence of condomless sex (rising from 37 perecent in 2008 to 45 percent in 2014). Again, this was true regardless of whether the that man thought his partner’s status was positive, negative, or unknown.
I'd like to see stats for straight people too. It's a shame sex education is still so poor and the ****** government decided not to require it (never mind discussion of LGBT+ relationships) here in the UK. Apparently some teachers still think they can't discuss LGBT+ relationships because of s28 (a law which forbade it and was repealed in 2003)
I'd like to see stats for straight people too. It's a shame sex education is still so poor and the ****** government decided not to require it (never mind discussion of LGBT+ relationships) here in the UK. Apparently some teachers still think they can't discuss LGBT+ relationships because of s28 (a law which forbade it and was repealed in 2003)
Yeah with the gay community I don't think lack of education is the problem... rather the hedonism bordering on nihilism which is rampant among certain bottoms.
i've always advocated for people to be more careful with sex in general, because there are a lot of ways to make decisions you'll regret. different things work for different people, but this kind of stuff feels like it shows the flippant attitude people have towards the potential risks sex can have. it's kind of like if a person lies to their doctor to get prescribed a medication they think they need - people assume they can see the future and all consequences, but a lot of these things can hit you when you don't expect it