40% Of Gay, Bi Men Not Using Condoms—And It Has Nothing To Do With PrEP

Up from 29% in 2005.
From: NewNowNext

 Results from a new study about condom usage have been released and the data shows that more and more gay and bisexual men are forgoing condoms when it comes to anal sex.

Scientists reviewed results gathered by The National HIV Behavioral Surveillance Survey, which asked over a thousand men in 21 cities in 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2014 whether or not they used a condom with their last anal sex partner.

 Between the years the survey was conducted from 2005 to 2014, the number of gay and bisexual men who reported not using a condom during sex rose from 29 to 41 percent.

“They found that declines in condom usage were seen across the board among men, whether or not their sexual partners were of the same HIV status and regardless of whether they knew their partners’ HIV status,” reports HIV Plus Magazine. “This led researchers to conclude that the lack of condom use cannot be explained by serosorting (only having sex with those of similar HIV status).”

Another conclusion is that condom usage has fallen since PrEP became available, but AIDSMap points out that the use of condoms has been falling for the past decade.

Of the men who participated in the survey, PrEP usage was reported by 0.5 percent of them in 2011. According to HIV Plus Magazine, “that number only rose to 3.5 percent of men in 2014, making it highly unlikely that the HIV prevention protocol played a significant role in the decline of condom use.”

“Our data suggests that condom use has decreased among [men who have sex with men] and that the trends are not explained by serosorting, seropositioning, PrEP use, or HIV treatment,” said the scientists who reviewed the data. They also worried that “the benefits of [antiretrovirals] in reducing transmission of HIV could be ’undermined,’ without increased promotion of condoms and access to PrEP.”