Table 5.
Characteristics of sexual partners and social confidants at baseline among cisgender Black gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men participating in the Neighborhoods and Networks (N2) Cohort Study, enrolled as of 31 December 2018.
| Networks | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Confidants (Social Network) | Sex Partners (Sexual Network) | |||||||||
| Chicago | Deep South | Chicago | Deep South | |||||||
| n | % | n | % | p-diff a | n | % | n | % | p-diff a | |
| 608 | 328 | 587 | 123 | |||||||
| Age | ||||||||||
| <20 years old | 20 | 3.3% | 5 | 1.5% | <0.001 | 25 | 4.3% | 1 | 0.8% | <0.001 |
| 20–29 years old | 340 | 56% | 141 | 42.9% | 379 | 62% | 53 | 40.1% | ||
| ≥30 years old | 247 | 40.1% | 180 | 54.9% | 176 | 28.9% | 69 | 56.1% | ||
| Not known/refused/missing | 1 | 0.2% | 2 | 0.6% | 7 | 12.4% | 0 | 0.0% | ||
| Education | ||||||||||
| High school or less | 273 | 44.9% | 112 | 27.8% | 0.19 | 273 | 46.5% | 35 | 28.5% | 0.006 |
| Above high school | 238 | 39.1% | 120 | 29.8% | 148 | 25.2% | 38 | 30.9% | ||
| Not known/refused/missing | 97 | 16.0% | 96 | 29.3% | 166 | 28.3% | 50 | 40.7% | ||
| Employment status | ||||||||||
| Employed full-time or part-time | 428 | 71.3% | 214 | 65.2% | 0.027 | 375 | 63.9% | 65 | 52.9% | 0.002 |
| Unemployed | 166 | 27.7% | 73 | 23.2% | 149 | 25.4% | 21 | 17.1% | ||
| Retired | 8 | 1.32% | 12 | 3.7% | 0 | 0.0% | 2 | 1.6% | ||
| Not known/refused/missing | 6 | 1.0% | 26 | 7.9% | 63 | 10.7% | 35 | 28.5% | ||
| Gender | ||||||||||
| Cisgender man | 331 | 54.4% | 200 | 61.0% | 0.022 | 523 | 89.1% | 93 | 75.6% | 0.001 |
| Cisgender woman | 225 | 37.0% | 106 | 32.3% | 45 | 7.7% | 20 | 16.3% | ||
| Transgender man/woman | 52 | 8.6% | 15 | 4.6% | 19 | 3.2% | 8 | 6.5% | ||
| Not known/refused/missing | 0 | 0.0% | 7 | 2.1% | 0 | 0.0% | 2 | 1.6% | ||
| Sexual partner type b | ||||||||||
| Main partners | 68 | 11.2% | 26 | 52.0% | 154 | 26.2% | 26 | 21.1% | 0.92 | |
| Causal partners | 11 | 1.8% | 20 | 40.0% | 399 | 68.0% | 62 | 50.4% | ||
| Sex work/exchange partners | 1 | 0.2% | 4 | 8.0% | 28 | 4.8% | 5 | 4.1% | ||
| Not known/refused/missing | -- c | -- c | -- c | -- c | 6 | 1.0% | 30 | 24.4% | ||
| HIV status | ||||||||||
| HIV positive | 107 | 17.6% | 16 | 4.9% | <0.001 | 72 | 15.3% | 4 | 3.3% | 0.002 |
| HIV negative | 453 | 74.5% | 173 | 52.7% | 318 | 54.6% | 79 | 64.2% | ||
| Not known/refused/missing | 48 | 7.9% | 139 | 42.4% | 197 | 33.5% | 40 | 32.5% | ||
| Criminal justice involvement | ||||||||||
| Ever incarcerated | 149 | 24.5% | 71 | 21.7% | 0.87 | 137 | 27.6% | 22 | 17.9% | 0.89 |
| Never incarcerated | 435 | 71.6% | 213 | 64.9% | 360 | 61.3% | 60 | 48.8% | ||
| Not known/refused/missing | 24 | 4.0% | 44 | 13.4% | 90 | 15.3% | 41 | 33.3% | ||
| Group sex | ||||||||||
| Ever had group sex | 128 | 21.1% | 40 | 12.2% | 0.41 | 149 | 42.5% | 15 | 12.2% | 0.004 |
| No previous group sex | 361 | 59.4% | 134 | 40.9% | 202 | 29.5% | 49 | 39.8% | ||
| Not known/refused/missing | 119 | 19.6% | 154 | 47.0% | 234 | 40.0% | 59 | 48.0% | ||
| Sex drug use | ||||||||||
| Ever used drugs during sex | 169 | 39.3% | 0 | 0.0% | <0.00 | 229 | 53.4% | 22 | 17.9% | 0.005 |
| Never used drugs during sex | 261 | 60.7% | 77 | 23.5% | 200 | 46.5% | 42 | 34.2% | ||
| Not known/refused/missing | 178 | 29.3% | 251 | 76.5% | 158 | 26.9% | 59 | 48.0% | ||
a All univariate analyses exclude network members for whom information was not known or for which participant’s refused to answer; b As it was possible for participant to identify sex partners who were also confidants, sexual partner types are reported for both networks (n = 130); c ‘Missing’ in this context may refer to unknown data or confidants who were not sexual partners, and have therefore been suppressed for these strata.