A survey of HIV/AIDS related behaviors among 2250 MSM in nine major cities of China

Objective To understand HIV/AIDS related behaviors among gay/men who have sex with men(MSM)and to provide evidence for prevention and control of HIV/AIDS among them. Methods Target sampling(snowball rolling)was employed,and cross sectional anonymous questionnaire survey and anti-HIV test were conducted for 2 250 MSM in nine cities of China.Data were analyzed by SPSS 11.0. Results The average age was 29.1±9.2. Of the subjects under survey 75.3% were unmarried and 24.7% were married.34.8% of the unmarried subjects and 74.0% of unmarried ones had female sexual partners in the past six months;94.8% had male sexual partners in the past 6 months,with an average number of 6.6±15.6 and 82.7% had anal intercourse partners in the past six months,with an average number of 8.0±17.8. The main ways to seek for sexual partners in the previous year were website(52.0%),bars(25.5%),bath rooms(21.1%)and so on.49.5% looked for strange men to have sexual intercourse in gay places.The most preferable sexual ways were annual and oral intercourse with their sexual partners,with an incidence of 43.8% and 20.4%,respectively.The incidence of bleeding occurred in themselves or their partners was 27.7% during sexual intercourse in the past year.72.3% ever visited gay website and chat room,58.5% ever sought for sexual partners through website,and 55.5% met personally with MSM and had sexual intercourse with them.18.6% ever engaged in group sex in the previous year.13.2% exchanged sex for money,with an average number of persons of 4.7±7.4,and with average episodes of 5.7±8.7,during the preceding year.Of the total samples,75.1% ever used condom in the last anal intercourse and 6.1% experienced condom rapture or drop during condom use in the last time.24.6% ever had an anti-HIV test and 2.2% were confirmed anti-HIV positively.22.4% had clinical symptoms of STIs in the past six months and 11.0% were diagnosed as STIs and the incidence of STIs was 6.6% in the previous year. Conclusion Different kinds of HIV/AIDS related behaviors exist in gay/MSM,which is a main bridge for HIV spreading from the high risk population to the general population.Preventive measures should be taken to control HIV/AIDS according to the characteristics of high-risk behaviors of MSM.