Eficacia de un programa para disminuir conductas sexuales de riesgo en hombres que tienen sexo con hombres / Efficacy of a program to reduce sexual risk behaviors in men who have sex with men

RESUMEN

Resumen Antecedentes las infecciones de transmisión sexual son un problema de salud pública y los programas para reducir su contagio se abordan mayoritariamente por el enfoque de riesgos y no desde una intervención integral. Objetivo: evaluar la eficacia del programa de intervención biográfico profesional con técnicas cognitivas conductuales para disminuir las conductas sexuales de riesgo en hombres que tienen sexo con hombres (HSH). Método: se aplicó un diseño cuasi experimental con pretest y postest de dos bloques. El primer bloque se conformó por HSH con alguna infección de transmisión sexual (ITS), 9 en el grupo experimental y 8 en el de control; mientras que, en el segundo bloque, los HSH no presentaron ITS y hubo 11 en ambos grupos. Los participantes respondieron a una escala ad-hoc, cuya validez y confiabilidad fueron evaluadas previamente. Resultados: existen diferencias entre el pretest y postest del grupo experimental y de control, con un tamaño de efecto grande, a favor del grupo experimental. Conclusiones: el programa reduce las conductas sexuales de riesgo en HSH; sin embargo, en quienes padecen alguna ITS, las conductas disminuyeron, sin extinguirse.

ABSTRACT

Abstract Background: Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are a public health problem and the programs to reduce their transmission are mostly addressed from the risk approach and not from a comprehensive intervention. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of a biographical-professional intervention program with cognitive behavioral techniques to reduce sexual risk behaviors in men who have sex with men (MSM). Method: A two-group pretest-posttest quasi- experimental design was used in the research. The first group consisted of MSM with an STD, nine of whom were in the experimental group and eight in the control group, whereas the second group consisted of MSM with no STD distributed into two groups of 11 men each. The participants answered the questions of an ad hoc scale, whose validity and reliability were previously evaluated. Results: Differences between the experimental and control groups' pretests and posttests were found, with the experimental group showing a large effect size. Conclusions: The program reduces sexual risk behaviors in MSM; however, in those who suffer from any STD, such behaviors decreased but did not disappear.