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Latent Class Analysis of Online Platforms for Partner-Seeking and Sexual Behaviors Among Men Who Have Sex with Men from Central Kentucky

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Abstract

Little is known whether engagement in sexual behaviors associated with potential HIV risks differs by subgroups of men who have sex with men (MSM), who are distinct regarding patterns of use of online tools for partner-seeking. Using latent class analysis, we revealed four classes of app-using MSM (n = 181, 18–34 y.o., 82.4% identified as White and non-Hispanic) residing in Central Kentucky: the Grindr/Tinder class; the Poly App Use class of MSM-oriented apps; the General Social Media class, and the Bumble class. Unadjusted penalized logistic regressions showed associations of the Poly App Use class with increased numbers of receptive anal sex partners and reporting condomless receptive anal sex. Adjusting for other covariates, poly app users versus others were more likely to be older (25–34 vs. 18–24, AOR = 3.81, 95%CI = 1.70–9.03), to report past six-month illicit drug use (AOR = 2.93, 95%CI = 1.25–7.43) and to have ever used pre-exposure prophylaxis (AOR = 2.79, 95%CI = 1.10–7.12). Poly app users had behavior profiles associated with an elevated HIV risk and also reported HIV-related protective behaviors likely indicating increased risk awareness among this class. Our findings warrant differentiation of behavior profiles by patterns of app use and suggest not to generalize sexual behaviors associated with potential HIV risks to all app-using MSM.

Resumen

Poco se sabe si la participación en comportamientos sexuales asociados con riesgos potenciales de VIH difiere según distintos subgrupos de hombres que tienen sexo con hombres (HSH) en base a patrones en el uso de herramientas online para la búsqueda de pareja. Mediante el análisis de clases latentes, identificamos cuatro clases de HSH que usan aplicaciones (n = 181, 18–34 años, 82.4% identificados como Blancos y no-Hispanos) y residen en Kentucky Central: la clase Grindr/Tinder, la clase Poly App Use de aplicaciones orientadas a HSH, la clase General Social Media y la clase Bumble. Las regresiones logísticas penalizadas no ajustadas mostraron asociaciones de la clase Poly App Use con un alza en el número de parejas receptivas en relaciones sexuales anales y con reportes de sexo anal receptivo sin condón. Al ajustar por otras covariables, los miembros de la clase Poly App Use, con respecto a las otras clases, tuvieron más probabilidades de ser mayores (25–34 vs. 18–24, ORA = 3,81; IC95%=1,70 − 9,03), de informar el uso de drogas ilícitas en los últimos 6 meses (ORA = 2,93; IC95%=1,25 − 7,43) y haber utilizado alguna vez profilaxis-preexposición (ORA = 2,79; IC95%=1,10 − 7,12). Así mismo, los miembros de esta clase tuvieron perfiles de comportamiento asociado con el riesgo elevado de VIH y también informaron comportamientos de protección relacionados con el VIH que probablemente indican una mayor conciencia del riesgo entre ellos. Nuestros hallazgos justifican la diferenciación de perfiles de comportamiento en base a patrones de uso de aplicaciones y sugieren no generalizar los comportamientos sexuales asociados con riesgos potenciales de VIH a todos los HSH que las usan.

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Data Availability

De-identified data may be made available upon reasonable request to the Principal Investigator, April M. Young.

Code Availability

N/A.

Abbreviations

MSM:

Men who have sex with men

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Acknowledgements

We thank research staff members, the research team (including Angel Algarin and Trey Cardwell), and research participants. We thank Dr. Sergio Rivera Polanco for editing the abstract in Spanish.

Funding

The study was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH NIDA R03 DA039740). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. IWH is supported by the California HIV/AIDS Research Program (RP15-LA-007); the Center for HIV Identification, Prevention, and Treatment (MH58107); the University of California Los Angeles Center for AIDS Research (5P30AI028697); and the National Institutes of Health National Center for Advancing Translational Science (UL1TR000124).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northern California Institute for Research and Education, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco VA Medical Center, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Vira Pravosud

  2. Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    April M Ballard

  3. Luskin School of Public Affairs, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Ian W Holloway

  4. Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, University of Kentucky College of Public Health, Lexington, KY, USA

    April M Young

  5. Center on Drug and Alcohol Research, Department of Behavioral Science, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, KY, USA

    April M Young

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  1. Vira Pravosud
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  2. April M Ballard
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  3. Ian W Holloway
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  4. April M Young
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Contributions

VP and AMY shaped the research question. VP conducted data analysis, interpreted the results, and drafted and revised the manuscript. AMB, IWH, and AMY contributed to study design, data collection, and revisions of the manuscript. AMY led funding acquisition. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Vira Pravosud.

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Pravosud, V., Ballard, A.M., Holloway, I.W. et al. Latent Class Analysis of Online Platforms for Partner-Seeking and Sexual Behaviors Among Men Who Have Sex with Men from Central Kentucky. AIDS Behav 28, 1015–1028 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-023-04210-0

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