From The Methodology Center.
Department of Biobehavioral Health, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA.
Sex Transm Dis. 2018 Jun;45(6):387-393. doi: 10.1097/OLQ.0000000000000767.
Young men who have sex with men (MSM) are at an increased risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Recent research has documented the importance of understanding the multidimensional nature of sexual risk behavior; however, little is known about how multidimensional patterns of sexual behavior among MSM may be associated with STIs.
This study applies latent class analysis to data from a large, HIV- sample of 18- to 25-year-old MSM recruited from social and sexual networking Web sites (N = 5965; 76% white, 11% Latino, 5% black, 4% Asian, 4% other; 74% homosexual, 21% bisexual, 1% heterosexual, 3%, unsure/questioning 1% other) to uncover multidimensional patterns of past-year sexual behaviors, partner factors, and protective behavior and their associations with self-reported STI diagnosis.
We selected a model with 8 classes, with nearly half of participants belonging to a class marked by multiple behaviors with more than 1 partner, and smaller numbers of individuals in classes with a smaller number of behaviors, romantic relationships, and sexual inactivity. Class membership was associated with recent STI diagnosis, with classes marked by no penetrative sex or receptive anal sex with consistent condom use having lower prevalence than those with inconsistent condom use, including those engaging in only insertive anal sex.
Findings suggest heterogeneity of behaviors within MSM and that prevention messages may be more effective if they are tailored to individuals' patterns of sexual behavior, as well as demographic and sociocontextual factors.
男男性行为者（MSM）感染性传播感染（STI）的风险增加。最近的研究记录了了解性行为风险的多维度性质的重要性；然而，对于 MSM 之间性行为的多维模式如何与 STI 相关知之甚少。
本研究应用潜在类别分析对来自社交和性网络网站的 HIV 样本中 18 至 25 岁 MSM 的大型数据进行分析（N = 5965；76%为白人，11%为拉丁裔，5%为黑人，4%为亚洲人，4%为其他；74%为同性恋，21%为双性恋，1%为异性恋，3%为不确定/有疑问，1%为其他），以发现过去一年性行为、伴侣因素和保护行为的多维模式及其与自我报告的 STI 诊断的关联。
我们选择了一个具有 8 个类别的模型，近一半的参与者属于一个具有多个行为和多个伴侣的类别，而具有较少行为、浪漫关系和性不活跃的个体数量较少。类别成员与最近的 STI 诊断有关，与没有插入性性行为或接受性肛交但始终使用避孕套的类别相比，使用避孕套不一致的类别，包括仅进行插入性肛交的类别，其患病率较低。
研究结果表明 MSM 内行为存在异质性，如果预防信息针对个人的性行为模式以及人口统计学和社会背景因素进行量身定制，可能会更加有效。
