Meeting men on the internet not associated with unprotected sex, says Dutch study

Dutch gay men who chat with and meet sexual partners on the internet are no more likely than gay men sampled offline to have unprotected anal sex, according to a study published in the July 1^st edition of AIDS. The investigators also noted that the factors for unprotected sex with partners met on the internet were age under 24 years, lower education, non-Dutch nationality and being HIV-positive.

Studies into sexual risk behaviour comparing gay men using the internet and gay men sampled off-line have produced conflicting results. Some studies have found that gay men who met partners online had more casual partners, more sexually transmitted infections and more unprotected sex, findings which have not, however, been supported by other studies.

Dutch investigators wished to define the sexual behaviour of gay men using the most popular Dutch gay chat room (www.chatboy.nl) and compared this to a sample of gay men recruited offline.

Data were collected in the Spring of 2002. Men using the chat room were invited to complete an anonymous questionnaire and provide demographic details, HIV testing history, HIV status, sexual behaviour within the last six months, including the number of men met on-line, and anal sex and condom use with men met on the internet.

Just under 5,000 responses were available for the investigators’ analysis. The mean age of the men was 33 years, 58% had had a higher education and 81% were Dutch. As expected, the overwhelming majority (92%) had had sex with a man in the preceding six months, although 27% also reported being or having been in a relationship with a woman.

Among the men who reported sex with another man, the median number of casual partners in the previous six months was four. Over half (57%) said that they had had anal sex with a casual partner, and 23% said that this sex had been unprotected.

Of all respondents, 44% had had an HIV test and 6% reported being HIV-positive.

Over three-quarters of men (78%) said that they had had sex with a man they had met online. Almost 80% of men said that they did not disclose their HIV status before meeting for sex. Almost half of the men said that they had anal sex with the men they met online and 15% said that this sex had been unprotected.

Men saying that they had had unprotected anal sex with men met over the internet were significantly more likely to be younger (18%, under 24 versus 13% over 33, p

The investigators then compared these findings with those for the DMMS study, which included a sample of gay men recruited offline. The investigators found, “a slightly higher percentage in the DMMS reported anal sex with casual partners in the six months preceding the assessment, compared with the internet sample (61% versus 57%).” In addition, “the level of unprotected anal sex with casual partners was comparable between the samples (internet sample 23%, DMMS 21%).”

Commenting on their findings the investigators write, “we did not find differences in the level of unprotected anal intercourse with casual partners between online and offline samples. Whether or not the internet attracts more risk-taking men who have sex with men remains inconclusive.”