The Fenway Institute, Fenway Health, Boston, Massachusetts.
Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island.
AIDS Patient Care STDS. 2020 May;34(5):237-246. doi: 10.1089/apc.2019.0296.
The sexual partnerships of transmasculine adults-who were assigned female at birth and identify on the masculine gender continuum-remain understudied. This includes characteristics of transmasculine adults' sexual partnerships associated with engaging in HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STI) sexual risk behavior. This study examined individual- and partnership-level factors of transmasculine adults' sexual partnerships associated with using a protective barrier during sexual activity. Data came from cross-sectional surveys administered to 141 transmasculine adults. Participants provided demographic and sexual health information for up to three sexual partners from the past 12 months ( = 259 partnerships). Generalized estimating equations (GEEs) were used to investigate individual- and partnership-level factors associated with any use of a protective barrier during five sexual behaviors. Transmasculine participants engaged in an array of sexual behaviors with diverse sexual partners. Individual- and partnership-level factors of transmasculine adults' sexual partnerships were associated with their protective barrier use; however, these associations varied in statistical significance across the five sexual behaviors. At the individual level, younger participants had lower odds of protective barrier use during fingering or fisting. At the partnership level, protective barrier use was associated with a sexual partnership's configuration and the gender identity of a sexual partner. Relative to participants with cisgender female partners, those with cisgender male partners generally had lower odds of using a protective barrier. Study findings highlight the importance of studying factors associated with HIV/STI risk behavior located beyond the individual. These findings may have implications for improving measurements of HIV/STI-related risk for transmasculine adults.
跨性别男性成年人的性伴侣关系——他们在出生时被指定为女性,并在男性性别连续体上认同——仍然研究不足。这包括与参与艾滋病毒/性传播感染(STI)性风险行为相关的跨性别男性成年人的性伴侣关系的特征。本研究考察了与跨性别男性成年人在性活动中使用保护屏障相关的个体和伴侣层面的因素。数据来自对 141 名跨性别男性成年人进行的横断面调查。参与者提供了过去 12 个月中最多三个性伴侣的人口统计学和性健康信息(=259 个伴侣关系)。广义估计方程(GEE)用于研究与五种性行为中任何一种使用保护屏障相关的个体和伴侣层面的因素。跨性别男性参与者与不同性伴侣进行了各种性行为。跨性别男性成年人的性伴侣关系的个体和伴侣层面的因素与他们使用保护屏障有关;然而,这些关联在五种性行为中的统计学意义各不相同。在个体层面上,年轻的参与者在手指或拳头插入性行为中使用保护屏障的可能性较低。在伴侣层面上,保护屏障的使用与性伴侣关系的配置和性伴侣的性别认同有关。与具有顺性别女性伴侣的参与者相比,与具有顺性别男性伴侣的参与者使用保护屏障的可能性通常较低。研究结果强调了研究位于个体之外的与艾滋病毒/性传播感染风险行为相关因素的重要性。这些发现可能对改善对跨性别成年人与艾滋病毒/性传播感染相关风险的测量有影响。