Internet cruisers more likely to have unprotected sex

HIV-negative gay men who use the internet to find sex are twice as likely to have unprotected anal sex with a partner of unknown HIV status, according research presented to the annual conference of the British Psychological Society this weekend.

The research is likely to stimulate debate among HIV prevention groups about the best ways of targeting information to men

An annual survey of gay men's sexual habits handed out at central London gyms in 2000 found that of the 743 gay men completing the questionnaire (which looks at safer sex, steroid use and the internet), 80 per cent had access to the internet and of these more than a third had used it at least once to find a sexual partner.

Researchers from London's University College Hospital and City University noted that gay men who knew they were HIV-negative were over twice as likely to have unprotected sex with partners of unknown status they had met on the internet. However, HIV-positive gay men were more likely to report having had unprotected anal sex with a partner who they knew was also positive.

In addition, gay men using the internet for sex appeared to be at much greater risk of contracting a sexually transmitted infection (STI). Amongst HIV-positive men making sexual contacts on-line, 22 per cent had had gonorrhoea in the previous 12 months, compared to six per cent of non-internet users. Amongst HIV-negative men, 27 per cent of those arranging sex over the net had had some form of sexually transmitted infection compared to 17.5 per cent amongst those who had not used the internet for dating.

However, the research team are keen to point out that they were unable to determine if those having unprotected anal sex did so with partners they had met on the internet, rather than partners they had met in bars, saunas or cruising areas. Nor was it possible to determine if STIs had been contracted from internet partners. A two year research project is underway to establish if sexual contacts made via the web are more likely to involve unprotected anal sex.

Report author, Graham Bolding of the Royal Free Hospital, London, said it was also unclear if gay men using the internet to make sexual contacts were those who were already likely to be exposed to health promotion messages through their use of bars and saunas or a "new population" in need of health promotion interventions.

The researchers note that "the possibility of using the internet for HIV and STI prevention messages merits investigation" and the 2002 questionnaire asks gay men how they would respond to the presence of sexual health advice in internet chat-rooms.

The research is likely to stimulate debate among HIV prevention groups about the best ways of targeting information to men. Gay Men Fighting AIDS last week launched a new website called MetroMate, aimed at gay men in London, which integrates sexual health and HIV prevention information, while a click-through banner advertising campaign at Gaydar, the most popular gay site in the UK, is being used to promote London's free condom distribution programme, Freedoms.