SAFE SEXUAL PRACTICE AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG HIV-INFECTED MEN WHO HAVE SEX WITH MEN IN AT XOM CHIEU MEDICAL CENTER, HO CHI MINH CITY

Abstract

Background: HIV/AIDS remains a health problem that largely contributes to global socio-economic burden. The current situation shows that the common transmission route is through unsafe sex, leading to a high infection rate. The men who have sex with men (MSM) community is a high-risk group. To date, there have been few studies on sexual behavior in the HIV-infected MSM community to better understand the risk factors that contribute to the rapid spread of HIV in the MSM community.

Objectives: Determine the proportion of MSM on antiviral treatment (ART) who practice safe sexual practice, and identify factors related to safe sexual behavior among HIV-infected MSM.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 162 MSM participants receiving ART at the Department of Community Health Care, at Xom Chieu medical center, Ho Chi Minh City to investigate baseline characteristics, sexual behavior characteristics, and related factors. Subjects participated in the study by answering a pre-structured questionnaire.

Results: The rate of subjects with safe sexual practice was 40.12%. The study found a correlation between safe sexual behavior with the number of sexual partners (p = 0.002), type of sexual partners (p = 0.001), and sexual route (p = 0.008) of the study group.

Conclusions: The rate of safe sexual practice in the research group is not high. It is necessary to implement health education among adolescents, promote education and counseling on HIV infection prevention in general for the community and for each specific subject when visiting the clinic to improve knowledge of public health.

Keywords: safe sex; MSM (Men who have Sex with Men); HIV