Most HIV behavioural surveillance programmes for gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (MSM) sample from location-based (offline) or web-based (online) populations, but few combine these two streams. MSM sampled online have been found to differ demographically and behaviourally from those sampled offline, meaning trends identified in one system may not hold for the other. The aim was to examine trends among MSM responding to supplementary repeat online behavioural surveillance surveys who had not participated in offline surveillance earlier that year in the same city, to see whether trends were parallel, converged or diverged. We recruited a total of 1613 MSM from an Internet dating site in Auckland, New Zealand in 2006, 2008 and 2011 using identical questionnaires and eligibility criteria to offline surveillance. Condom use was stable over time, HIV testing rates rose, the proportion reporting over 20 recent male partners declined, and anal intercourse rates increased, consistent with trends in offline surveillance conducted concomitantly and reported elsewhere. Variant trends included greater stability in condom use with casual partners among online-recruited MSM, and a rise in regular fuckbuddy partnering not identified among offline-recruited MSM. Among MSM recruited online, the frequency of checking Internet dating profiles increased between 2008 and 2011. In conclusion, supplementary web-based behavioural surveillance among MSM generally corroborates trends identified in offline surveillance. There are however some divergent trends, that would have been overlooked if only one form of surveillance had been conducted. As MSM populations increasingly shift their socialising patterns online and diversify, multiple forms of HIV behavioural monitoring may be required.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 4. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 01 December 2017.
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#11,109,863
of 33,779,198 outputs
Outputs from AIDS Care
#1,193
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Outputs of similar age
#123,602
of 409,165 outputs
Outputs of similar age from AIDS Care
#11
of 38 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 33,779,198 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 66th percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 3,141 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 5.4. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 59% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 38 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 63% of its contemporaries.
