Association between knowledge, risk behaviours, and testing for sexually transmitted infections among men who have sex with men: findings from a large online survey in the United Kingdom

• Published in: HIV medicine 2019-09, Vol.20 (8), p.523-533
• Main Authors: Wayal, S, Reid, D, Weatherburn, P, Blomquist, P, Fabiane, S, Hughes, G, Mercer, CH
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Confidence intervals; Cross-Sectional Studies; health knowledge; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Health risk assessment; Health risks; HIV; HIV Infections - epidemiology; Homosexuality, Male; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Infections; Internet; Knowledge; Male; Mass Screening - methods; men who have sex with men; Middle Aged; Original Research; Polls & surveys; Privacy; Risk; Risk taking; Self Report; Sexual behavior; sexual behaviours; Sexually transmitted diseases; Sexually Transmitted Diseases - epidemiology; sexually transmitted infection; sexually transmitted infection testing; STD; United Kingdom - epidemiology; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1464-2662; 1468-1293; 1468-1293
• DOI: 10.1111/hiv.12753

Objectives In the UK, men who have sex with men (MSM) bear a disproportionate sexually transmitted infection (STI) burden. We investigated MSM's STI knowledge; whether their STI testing behaviour met national guidelines (annually if sexually active; 3‐monthly if engaging in STI risk behaviours); and the relationship between STI testing in the last 3 months, STI knowledge and STI risk behaviours by HIV status. Methods Sexually active (in the last year) men aged > 15 years who were UK residents and were recruited from gay‐orientated online dating platforms completed an anonymous online survey about STI knowledge, STI risk behaviours, and STI testing (March–May 2017). This included 11 true statements about STIs. Respondents scored 1 for each statement they ‘knew’, with those scoring