Grindr Users Take More Risks, but Are More Open to Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Pre-exposure Prophylaxis: Could This Dating App Provide a Platform for HIV Prevention Outreach?
Clin Infect Dis
; 71(7): e135-e140, 2020 10 23.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-31677383
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Technology has changed the way that men who have sex with men (MSM) seek sex. More than 60% of MSM in the United States use the internet and/or smartphone-based geospatial networking apps to find sex partners. We correlated use of the most popular app (Grindr) with sexual risk and prevention behavior among MSM.METHODS:
A nested cohort study was conducted between September 2018 and June 2019 among MSM receiving community-based human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening in central San Diego. During the testing encounter, participants were surveyed for demographics, substance use, risk behavior (previous 3 months), HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use, and Grindr usage. Participants who tested negative for HIV and who were not on PrEP were offered immediate PrEP.RESULTS:
The study included 1256 MSM, 1090 of whom (86.8%) were not taking PrEP. Overall, 580 of 1256 (46%) participants indicated that they used Grindr in the previous 7 days. Grindr users reported significantly higher risk behavior (greater number of male partners and condomless sex) and were more likely to test positive for chlamydia or gonorrhea (8.6% vs 4.7% of nonusers; P = .005). Grindr users were also more likely to be on PrEP (18.7% vs 8.7% of nonusers; P < .001) and had fewer newly diagnosed HIV infections (9 vs 26 among nonusers; P = .014). Grindr users were also nearly twice as likely as nonusers to initiate PrEP (24.6% vs 14%; P < .001).CONCLUSIONS:
Given the higher risk behavior and greater acceptance of PrEP among MSM who used Grindr, Grindr may provide a useful platform to promote HIV and STI testing and increase PrEP uptake.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Infecções por HIV
/
Aplicativos Móveis
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Profilaxia Pré-Exposição
/
Minorias Sexuais e de Gênero
Tipo de estudo:
Etiology_studies
/
Incidence_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Humans
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Male
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Clin Infect Dis
Assunto da revista:
DOENCAS TRANSMISSIVEIS
Ano de publicação:
2020
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos