Prevalence of HIV and related sexual behaviors among male college students who have sex with men in Taian

Objective To determine the prevalence of HIV and risky sexual behaviors among male college students who have sex with men in Taian.Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted among MSM college students recruited by respondent-driven sampling (RDS) and voluntary counseling and testing (VCT).Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect social demographic characteristics and HIV/AIDS related risk sexual behaviors.Blood sample was collected to HIV,syphilis and HSV-11 testing.Results A total of 127 MSM students were recruited,63% of them self-identified gay,and 42.5% as female role in the sexual behavior.The most common way to find male sexual partner was the network,especially one of the software "Blued" through which 69 (54.3%) MSM students were recruited.About 79.4% of respondents had more than one male sexual partners.The proportion of unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) was 60.4% (55/91) with regular sex partners and 50.7% (37/73) with casual sex partners,respectively.The rate of condom use in their last homosexual anal intercourse experience was 61.4%,the main reasons for not using condoms included mutual loyalty (18.4%),having no condom at the time (18.4%),and low risk of infection (16.3%).The awareness rate of HIV/AIDS was 96.1%.The prevalence of HIV,syphilis and HSV-Ⅱ was 3.1%,4.7% and 3.1%,respectively.Univariate analysis showed that main sexual role as female,looking for male sexual partners using software "Blued",not using condoms with regular sexual partners were risk factors for HIV infection.Conclusion The HIV/AIDS epidemic has emerged among MSM students in Taian.Comprehensive intervention strategies that address condom promotion and health education need to be tailored to this vulnerable population to prevent HIV infection.