Abstract
In 2007, the New York City (NYC) Department of Health introduced the ‘NYC Condom’—a Lifestyles® condom with a ‘NYC’ logo. Few studies have evaluated attitudes toward or distribution of the ‘NYC Condom’ among men who have sex with men (MSM)—a population at increased risk for HIV/STIs. 148 MSM completed a survey about their exposure to, use of, and experiences using the ‘NYC Condom.’ The majority (93.2 %) had seen the ‘NYC Condom;’ 82.4 % of said men had used it. Among MSM who used it, 82.1 % rated it average or above. Exposure did not statistically differ by race/ethnicity, HIV status, gay or barebacker identification, or sex role. Use was neither significantly associated with demographic characteristics nor recruitment source, suggesting distributional success in reaching various sub-populations of MSM. Among those who had not used the ‘NYC Condom,’ 22.2 % reported size or quality concerns, suggesting a demand for alternative prevention campaigns.
Resumen
En el 2007, el departamento de salud de Nueva York introducio el “Condon NY” - un condon de Lifestyles® con un symbolo de NY. Pocas investigaciones han evaluado las atitudes sobre la distribucion del “Condon NY” entre los hombres que tienen sexo con hombres (HSH) – una poblacion de gente con alto riesgo de contraer el VIH y otras enfermedades trasmitidas sexualmente. 148 HSH completaron una encuesta sobre las experiencias que tuvieron usando el “Condon NY”. La mayoria (93.2 %) habian visto el “Condon NY”; 82.4 % de los hombres lo usaron. Entre los HSH que lo usaron, 82.1 % dijieron que era igual de bien o mejor que el condon regular. Estadísticamente, no hubo diferencia entre etnicidad, hombres VIH + o -, idetificacion sexual o rol pasivo/activo sobre la exposicion del “Condon NY”. El uso del condon no fue asociado ni con caracteristicas demograficas o lugar de reclutamiento, sugeriendo exito en distribuir el condon a todo tipo de HSH. Entre los hombre que no usaron el “Condon NY”, 22.2 % reportaron problemas con el tamaño y la calidad, sugeriendo una demanda por prevenciones alternativas.
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Acknowledgments
Project Score was funded by the National Institutes of Health (SC2 AI 090923: PI—Christian Grov. Mentor—Jeffrey T. Parsons) and research activities were conducted at the Center for HIV/AIDS Educational Studies and Training (CHEST). H. Jonathon Rendina was supported in part by a National Institute of Mental Health Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (F31-MH095622). Special thanks to the study team: Michael Adams, Linda Agyemang, Bryant Porter, Ruben Jimenez, Sarit A. Golub, Sitaji Gurung, Kevin Robin, Amy LeClair, Kristi Gamarel, Chris Hietikko, Anna Johnson, Joel Rowe, Inna Saboshchuk, Anthony Surace, Andrea C. Vial, and the recruitment staff. Finally, a special thanks to Joana Roe at NIAID. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
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Grov, C., Breslow, A.S., Rendina, H.J. et al. Men Who Have Sex with Mens’ Exposure to, Use of, and Subjective Experiences with the ‘NYC Condom’. AIDS Behav 18, 2172–2177 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-014-0783-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-014-0783-2