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Money Boys, HIV Risks, and the Associations between Norms and Safer Sex: A Respondent-Driven Sampling Study in Shenzhen, China

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Abstract

Money boys (MBs) are male sex workers who sell sex to men who have sex with men (MSM). This study estimates the proportion of MBs in the Chinese MSM, compares HIV risks between MBs and non-MB MSM, and examines the associations between practicing safer sex and peer norms of condom use. Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) was used to sample 351 MSM in the city of Shenzhen in 2007. The RDS-adjusted proportion of MBs among MSM was 9%. Compared to non-MB MSM, more MBs reported having had multiple male and female sexual partners. Half of MBs and non-MB MSM had consistently used condoms. Both descriptive and subjective norms were positively associated with condom use. The MB proportion of 9% in MSM implies a relatively large population of MBs in China. The association between peer norms and consistent condom use can assist with the development of culturally competent HIV interventions that promote safer sex.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in whole by a research grant (107010-41-RGAT) from the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR). It was awarded to Hongjie Liu. We are grateful to the staff from Shenzhen Center for Chronic Disease Control and Prevention for participation in the study and to all the participants who gave so willingly of their time to provide the study data.

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  1. Department of Epidemiology and Community Health, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, 1000 East Clay Street, P.O. Box 980212, Richmond, VA, 23298, USA

    Hongjie Liu & Anne G. Rhodes

  2. China Center for HIV/STD Control and Prevention, China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 24 Nanwei Road, 100050, Beijing, China

    Hui Liu

  3. Department of HIV/STD Control and Prevention, Shenzhen Center for Chronic Disease Control and Prevention, 2021 Buxin Road, 518020, Shenzhen, China

    Yumao Cai & Fuchang Hong

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  1. Hongjie Liu
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Liu, H., Liu, H., Cai, Y. et al. Money Boys, HIV Risks, and the Associations between Norms and Safer Sex: A Respondent-Driven Sampling Study in Shenzhen, China. AIDS Behav 13, 652–662 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-008-9475-0

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