Condom used among man who have sex with men in Khon Kaen Province

Abstract

The first case of AIDS in Thailand was identified in a homosexual male in 1984, HIV
spread rapidly among other groups as well, and including those men who have sex
with men (MSM) group. At present, men who have sex with men (MSM) at the
Khon Kaen province continue to be at high risk for HIV infection in the population.
The objective of this study was to investigate reasons associated with inconsistent
condom use in this population. Collecting information may help in developing
appropriate HIV prevention interventions for distinct populations of young men
who have sex with men. The study methodology used a descriptive cross‐sectional
design, study and the participants (n=400) were MSM recruited by peer‐group
snowball sampling. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected using a survey
questionnaire, and five focus groups and four in‐depth interviews were conducted.
The participants reported consistent condom use over the past three months with
57.5% of all partners, 61.4% of steady partners and 71.7% of casual sex partners,
and 41.3% did not use a condom on their first sexual encounter, which occurred
either with their boyfriend (34.8%), a friend (22.3%) or some other person
(18.5%). In their sexual activity, 51.0%, 21.0 % and 28.0% adopted receptive,
injective roles or both roles, respectively. Reasons given for not using a condom
during sex were not having a condom available, failing to make preparations and
chance sexual encounters (39.9%), having only oral sex (15.7%) and diminished
sexual pleasure (11.6%). The reasons spontaneously provided by the focus groups
for not using condoms were the same as those reported by questionnaire. Results
indicated that good knowledge and positive attitudes about condom use, but these
findings were not supported by comments in the focus group and interviews.
While knowledge of HIV/AIDS and the importance of condom use are high,
nevertheless MSM continue to expose them to infection by failure to use
prophylactic measures. A campaign is needed to promote more positive attitudes
to condom use.