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Types of Female Partners Reported by Black Men Who Have Sex with Men and Women (MSMW) and Associations with Intercourse Frequency, Unprotected Sex and HIV and STI Prevalence

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Abstract

We used baseline data from a study of Black MSM/MSMW in 6 US cities to examine the association of female partnership types with disease prevalence and sexual behaviors among the 555 MSMW participants. MSMW reported more than three times as many total and unprotected sex acts with each primary as they did with each non-primary female partner. We compared MSMW whose recent female partners were: (1) all primary (“PF only”, n = 156), (2) both primary and non-primary (“PF & NPF”, n = 186), and (3) all non-primary (“NPF only”, n = 213). HIV/STI prevalence did not differ significantly across groups but sexual behaviors did. The PF only group had the fewest male partners and was the most likely to have only primary male partners; the PF & NPF group was the most likely to have transgender partners. PF & NPF men reported the most sex acts (total and unprotected) with females; NPF only men reported the fewest. Implications for HIV risk and prevention are discussed.

Resumen

Se utilizó datos de un estudio de hombres quienes tienen sexo con hombres (MSM por las siglas en inglés) y hombres quienes tienen sexo con hombres y mujeres (MSMW por sus siglas en inglés) de raza negra, en 6 ciudades de los EEUU, para evaluar la asociación de los tipos de relaciones con mujeres con la prevalencia de enfermedades y comportamiento sexual de 555 participantes MSMW. Los MSMW reportaron tres veces más actos sexuales total y sin protección con cada pareja primaria al igual que con cada pareja no primaria femenina. Comparamos MSMW en quienes sus parejas femeninas fueron: (1) todas primarias (“solo PF”, n = 156), (2) ambos, primarias y no primarias (“PF & NPF”, n = 186), y (3) todas no primarias (“solo NP”, n = 213). No hubo mucha diferencia significativa en la prevalencia de VIH/ITS entre los grupos, pero hubo diferencia en el comportamiento sexual. El grupo “solo PF” tuvo menos parejas masculinas y fue el de mayor probabilidad de tener solo una pareja primaria masculina; el grupo PF & NPF fue el de mayor probabilidad de tener parejas transgénero. Los hombres en el grupo PF & NPF reportaron el mayor número de actos sexuales (totales y sin protección) con mujeres; el grupo de hombres “solo NPF” reportaron el menor número. Las implicaciones del riesgo y prevención de VIH son discutidas.

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Appendix

The authors would like to thank HPTN 061 Study Participants; Emory University (Ponce de Leon Center & Hope Clinic Clinical Research Sites): Carlos del Rio, Paula Frew, Christin Root, Jermel L. Wallace; Fenway Institute at Fenway Health: Benjamin Perkins, Kelvin Powell, Benny Vega; George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services: Manya Magnus, Alan Greenberg, Jeanne Jordan, Gregory Phillips II, Christopher Watson; Harlem Prevention Center: Sharon Mannheimer, Avelino Loquere Jr.; New York Blood Center: Krista Goodman, Hong Van Tieu; San Francisco Department of Public Health: Susan P. Buchbinder, Michael Arnold, Chadwick Campbell, Mathew Sanchez; University of California Los Angeles (UCLA): Christopher Hucks-Ortiz; HPTN Coordinating and Operations Center (CORE), FHI 360; Erica Hamilton, LaShawn Jones, Georgette King, Jonathan Paul Lucas, Teresa Nelson; HPTN Network Laboratory, Johns Hopkins Medical Institute: Sue Eshleman; HPTN Statistical and Data Management Center, Statistical Center for HIV/AIDS Research and Prevention (SCHARP): Corey Kelly, Ting-Yuan Liu; Division of AIDS (DAIDS) at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH): Jane Bupp, Vanessa Elharrar; Additional HPTN 061 Protocol Team Members: Darrell Wheeler (co-chair), Sheldon Fields, Kaijson Noilmar, Steven Wakefield; Other HPTN 061 Contributors: Black Gay Research Group, HPTN Black Caucus, Kate MacQueen. HPTN 061 grant support was provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH): Cooperative Agreements UM1 AI068619, UM1 AI068617, and UM1 AI068613. Additional site funding—Fenway Institute Clinical Research Site (CRS): Harvard University CFAR (P30 AI060354) and CTU for HIV Prevention and Microbicide Research (UM1 AI069480); George Washington University CRS: District of Columbia Developmental CFAR (P30 AI087714); Harlem Prevention Center CRS and NY Blood Center/Union Square CRS: Columbia University CTU (5U01 AI069466) and ARRA funding (3U01 AI069466-03S1); Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center CRS and The Ponce de Leon Center CRS: Emory University HIV/AIDS CTU (5U01 AI069418), CFAR (P30 AI050409) and CTSA (UL1 RR025008); San Francisco Vaccine and Prevention CRS: ARRA funding (3U01 AI069496-03S1, 3U01 AI069496-03S2); UCLA Vine Street CRS: UCLA Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases CTU (U01 AI069424) and the National Institute of Minority Health Disparities (NIMHD) CDU/UCLA Project EXPORT Center (P20 MD000182).

Conflict of interests

The authors have declared that no conflict of interests exist.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Medicine, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, 1731 East 120th Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90059, USA

    N. Harawa

  2. Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    N. Harawa

  3. Department of Human Development, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, USA

    L. Wilton

  4. Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA

    L. Wang & C. Mao

  5. School of Public Health, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA

    I. Kuo

  6. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    T. Penniman

  7. Department of Family Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    S. Shoptaw

  8. FHI 360 North Carolina, Research Triangle Park, Durham, NC, USA

    S. Griffith

  9. Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    J. K. Williams

  10. Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    V. Cummings

  11. Fenway Institute CRS and Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    K. Mayer

  12. Laboratory of Infectious Disease Prevention, New York Blood Center, New York, NY, USA

    B. Koblin

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  1. N. Harawa
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  2. L. Wilton
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  6. T. Penniman
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  11. K. Mayer
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  12. B. Koblin
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HPTN 061

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Correspondence to N. Harawa.

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The members of this HPTN 061 study group are listed in the appendix.

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Harawa, N., Wilton, L., Wang, L. et al. Types of Female Partners Reported by Black Men Who Have Sex with Men and Women (MSMW) and Associations with Intercourse Frequency, Unprotected Sex and HIV and STI Prevalence. AIDS Behav 18, 1548–1559 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-014-0704-4

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