Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, Kensington, Australia.
Centre for Social Research in Health, UNSW Sydney, Kensington, Australia.
J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2020 Nov 1;85(3):309-315. doi: 10.1097/QAI.0000000000002462.
In March 2020, Australian state and federal governments introduced physical distancing measures alongside widespread testing to combat COVID-19. These measures may decrease people's sexual contacts and thus reduce the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmissible infections (STIs). We investigated the impact of physical distancing measures due to COVID-19 on the sexual behavior of gay and bisexual men in Australia.
Between April 4, 2020, and April 29, 2020, 940 participants in an ongoing cohort study responded to questions to measure changes in sexual behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Men reported the date they become concerned about COVID-19 and whether they engaged in sexual behavior with regular or casual partners or "fuckbuddies" in the 6 months before becoming concerned about COVID-19 (hereafter referred to as "before COVID-19"), and following the date, they become concerned about COVID-19 (hereafter referred to as "since COVID-19"). Before and since COVID-19 was based on individual participants' own perceived date of becoming concerned about COVID-19.
The mean age of was 39.9 years (SD: 13.4). Most participants (88.3%) reported sex with other men during the 6 months before COVID-19. Of the 587 men (62.4%) who reported sex with casual partners before COVID-19, 93 (15.8%) continued to do so in the period since COVID-19, representing a relative reduction of 84.2%.
Gay and bisexual men in Australia have dramatically reduced their sexual contacts with other men since COVID-19. These behavioral changes will likely result in short-term reductions in new HIV and STI diagnoses. If sexual health screenings are undertaken before resuming sexual activity, this could present a novel opportunity to interrupt chains of HIV and STI transmission.
2020 年 3 月，澳大利亚州和联邦政府在广泛开展检测的同时，引入了身体距离措施，以抗击 COVID-19。这些措施可能会减少人们的性接触，从而降低 HIV 和其他性传播感染（STI）的传播。我们调查了由于 COVID-19 而实施的身体距离措施对澳大利亚男同性恋和双性恋者性行为的影响。
在 2020 年 4 月 4 日至 2020 年 4 月 29 日期间，一项正在进行的队列研究中的 940 名参与者回答了问题，以衡量 COVID-19 大流行期间性行为的变化。男性报告了他们开始担心 COVID-19 的日期，以及他们在担心 COVID-19 之前的 6 个月内与固定或偶然伴侣或“炮友”发生性行为的情况（以下简称“COVID-19 之前”），以及自他们开始担心 COVID-19 之后的日期（以下简称“COVID-19 之后”）。COVID-19 之前和之后是根据个人参与者自己认为开始担心 COVID-19 的日期。
平均年龄为 39.9 岁（SD：13.4）。大多数参与者（88.3%）报告在 COVID-19 之前的 6 个月内与其他男性发生性行为。在 587 名（62.4%）报告在 COVID-19 之前与偶然伴侣发生性行为的男性中，有 93 名（15.8%）在 COVID-19 之后继续这样做，相对减少了 84.2%。
澳大利亚的男同性恋和双性恋者自 COVID-19 以来大幅减少了与其他男性的性接触。这些行为变化可能导致新的 HIV 和性传播感染诊断的短期减少。如果在恢复性行为之前进行性健康筛查，这可能是中断 HIV 和性传播感染传播链的新机会。
