Sex Without Disclosure of Positive HIV Serostatus in a US Probability Sample of Persons Receiving Medical Care for HIV Infection

OBJECTIVES: We estimated the proportion of HIV-positive adults who have any sexual contact without disclosure and the proportion of their sexual partnerships that involve unprotected sex without disclosure. METHODS: We drew participants from the HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study (n = 1421). Interviews assessed disclosure and sexual activities with up to 5 recent partners. RESULTS: Overall, 42% of the gay or bisexual men, 19% of the heterosexual men, and 17% of all the women reported any sex without disclosure, predominately within nonexclusive partnerships (P <.001). Across all groups, 13% of serodiscordant partnerships involved unprotected anal or vaginal sex without disclosure, with no significant difference between groups. CONCLUSIONS: Risky sex without disclosure of serostatus is not uncommon among people with HIV.