Lampinen TM, Chan KJ, Miller ML, Schilder AJ, Schechter MT, Hogg RS; International Conference on AIDS (15th : 2004 : Bangkok, Thailand).

Int Conf AIDS. 2004 Jul 11-16; 15: abstract no. WePeD6546.

BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Vancouver, Canada

Background: Men who have sex with men (MSM) who are younger and involved in exchange of sex for drugs or money have higher risk for HIV infection. The extent to which they also experience hate crime is not known. Methods: Prospective cohort of community-recruited MSM ages 18-30 assessed annually with self-administered surveys between 1996-2003. Queer bashing was defined as "physical abuse - including being hit, punched or beaten up - directed at you because you are gay, bi or transgendered or because someone thought you were." Results: At enrolment, 98 (17%) of the 566 eligible MSM reported having been previously bashed. Men previously bashed reported significantly higher levels of depression (p=0.009) and were more likely to be Aboriginal (18% vs 9%, p=0.03), to report sexual abuse during childhood (38% vs 15%, p=0.001) and to report sex trade in the previous year (30% vs 14%, p=0.001). Though not significantly different with respect to IDU, incarceration or psychiatric history, self-esteem, or age (median, 26 years), men previously bashed reportedly "came out" at a younger age (median 16 vs 18, p=0.0001) and had been "out" a greater number of years (median, 8 vs 6, p=0.0003). During a median follow-up of 37 months (IQR 21, 58), 34 men reported being bashed a total of 38 times (overall rate 2.2% per year, 95% CI 1.5-2.8); an estimated 8% of men were bashed by 5 years follow-up. The relative risk (RR) of being bashed was strongly and inversely related to age at enrolment: compared to men in the oldest age quartile, the RR was 2.9 (95% CI 0.9-9.5, p=0.09), 4.1 (1.3-13.8, p=0.02), and 5.5 (1.8-16.9, p=0.003), in declining age quartiles, respectively. In time-dependent Cox models adjusted for age, higher risks tended to be observed in MSM with unstable housing (RR=2.4, CI 1.0-5.9, p=0.06) or involved in sex trade (RR=2.0, CI 0.9-4.4, p=0.08). Conclusion Risk for physical assault based on perceived sexual orientation is greatest in MSM who are youngest and have unstable housing or are involved in sex trade.

Publication Types:

• Meeting Abstracts

Keywords:

• British Columbia
• Cohort Studies
• HIV Infections
• Homosexuality
• Homosexuality, Male
• Humans
• Male
• Prospective Studies
• Sexual Behavior
• epidemiology

Other ID:

• GWAIDS0040245

UI: 102284461

From Meeting Abstracts