TABLE 3.
Estimated Prevalence of Sociodemographic Characteristics and Behaviors Among Men Who Reported Ever Having Sex by MSM Behavior, NHANES, 1999 to 2014
| MSM-Ever* (n = 598) |
MSM-Current† (n = 304) |
MSM-Past‡ (n = 289) |
Non-MSM (n = 10,650) |
P (MSM-Ever vs. Non-MSM) |
P (MSM-Current vs. MSM-Past) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prevalence, % (95% CI) | 5.5 (4.8–6.1) | 2.9 (2.3–3.4) | 2.6 (2.2–3.0) | 94.5 (93.9–95.2) | — | — |
| Age, median (IQR), y | 39.0 (18.0) | 37.9 (15.0) | 44.0 (17.0) | 39.0 (20.0) | 0.05 | <0.001 |
| Age group, % (95% CI) | 0.005 | <0.001 | ||||
| 18–24 y | 8.8 (6.5–11.9) | 12.4 (8.2–18.4)§ | 4.1 (2.2–7.3)§ | 14.0 (13.0–15.1) | ||
| 25–29 y | 10.2 (7.7–13.3) | 11.7 (8.0–16.7) | 8.6 (5.6–13.0)§ | 12.1 (11.4–12.8) | ||
| 30–39 y | 31.2 (26.4–36.5) | 35.8 (28.7–43.6) | 26.5 (20.7–33.1) | 24.4 (23.4–25.4) | ||
| 40–49 y | 24.9 (20.8–29.6) | 22.9 (17.0–30.1) | 27.2 (21.2–34.1) | 26.6 (25.5–27.7) | ||
| 50–59 y | 24.8 (20.2–30.2) | 17.1 (11.7–24.4) | 33.7 (26.0–42.3) | 22.9 (21.8–24.0) | ||
| Race/ethnicity, % (95% CI) | 0.33 | 0.75 | ||||
| White | 72.3 (68.7–75.5) | 71.4 (65.1–76.9) | 74.0 (68.9–78.5) | 68.9 (66.5–71.1) | ||
| Black | 9.9 (8.0–12.3) | 10.3 (7.4–14.2) | 9.1 (6.5–12.6) | 10.6 (9.6–11.8) | ||
| Hispanic | 13.2 (10.9–15.9) | 14.0 (10.3–18.6) | 11.8 (9.0–15.5) | 14.9 (13.1–16.9) | ||
| Other | 4.6 (3.0–7.1)§ | 4.3 (2.5–7.4)§ | 5.0 (2.8–8.7)§ | 5.6 (5.0–6.2) | ||
| Education, % (95% CI) | <0.001 | 0.28 | ||||
| ≤12 y | 27.7 (23.3–32.5) | 25.3 (19.6–32.1) | 30.1 (23.9–37.2) | 42.2 (40.4–44.1) | ||
| >12 y | 72.3 (67.5–76.7) | 74.7 (67.9–80.4) | 69.9 (62.8–76.1) | 57.8 (55.9–59.6) | ||
| Marital status, % (95% CI) | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||
| Married | 25.6 (21.4–30.3) | 8.6 (5.3–13.8)§ | 43.9 (36.6–51.5) | 58.6 (57.0–60.1) | ||
| Never married | 41.5 (35.8–47.3) | 56.7 (48.2–64.8) | 25.2 (19.2–32.2) | 21.5 (20.1–23.0) | ||
| Living with partner | 18.7 (14.5–23.7) | 23.3 (16.5–31.8) | 13.6 (9.5–19.1) | 8.9 (8.2–9.7) | ||
| Widowed/divorced/separated | 14.3 (10.7–18.8) | 11.4 (7.1–17.7)§ | 17.4 (12.5–23.6) | 11.0 (10.2–11.8) | ||
| Poverty, % (95% CI) | 0.87 | 0.99 | ||||
| At or above poverty | 86.6 (83.4–89.3) | 86.7 (81.7–90.5) | 86.7 (82–90.3) | 86.9 (85.7–88.0) | ||
| Below poverty | 13.4 (10.7–16.6) | 13.3 (9.5–18.3) | 13.3 (9.7–18.0) | 13.1 (12.0–14.3) | ||
| Sexual orientation, % (95% CI)¶ | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||
| Heterosexual | 36.9 (30.3–44.1) | 7.5 (4.3–12.7)§ | 71.2 (62.3–78.8) | 99.6 (99.5–99.8) | ||
| Homosexual | 44.8 (37.1–52.8) | 70.4 (60.9–78.4) | 14.9 (8.8–24.4)§ | 0.0 (0.0–0.1)∥ | ||
| Bisexual | 18.3 (14.2–23.2) | 22.1 (15.9–29.7) | 13.8 (9.8–19.2) | 0.3 (0.2–0.5)§ | ||
| Total sex partners (lifetime)** | ||||||
| Median (IQR) | 17.0 (28.0) | 20.0 (40.0) | 12.4 (19.0) | 8.0 (15.0) | <0.001 | 0.003 |
| ≥10, % (95% CI) | 69.8 (65.0–74.3) | 75.6 (68.7–81.4) | 63.3 (55.3–70.6) | 43.1 (41.7–44.5) | <0.001 | 0.02 |
| Total sex partners (past 12 mo)** | ||||||
| Median (IQR) | 1.0 (2.0) | 2.0 (4.0) | 1.0 (1.0) | 1.0 (0.0) | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| ≥2, % (95% CI) | 42.4 (36.9–48.0) | 62.4 (53.8–70.2) | 20.0 (14.8–26.5) | 18.8 (17.7–20.0) | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| Age at first sex | ||||||
| Median (IQR), y | 16.0 (5.0) | 17.0 (5.0) | 16.0 (4.0) | 17.0 (4.0) | 0.05 | 0.05 |
| <15 y, % (95% CI) | 28.3 (23.5–33.7) | 26.2 (19.6–34.1) | 30.9 (24.9–37.5) | 17.3 (16.4–18.3) | <0.001 | 0.32 |
In some cases, data were not available for all participants.
During survey cycles between 1999 and 2008, data were not publicly available on participants aged 18–19 years and were subsequently not included in the analysis
MSM-ever are participants who reported at least 1 lifetime male sexual partner (during the cycles between 1999 and 2008) or reported ever having any kind of sex with a man (during the cycles between 2009 and 2014).
MSM-current, a subgroup of MSM-ever, are MSM who reported having sex with at least 1 man within the past 12 months.
MSM-past, a subgroup of MSM-ever, are MSM who reported having sex with zero men within the past 12 months.
The relative SE is between 20% and 30% indicating the estimate may potentially be unreliable.
Sexual orientation was not collected during the 1999–2000 survey cycle.
The relative SE is greater than 30%, indicating that the estimate may potentially be unreliable.
Total sex partners were derived from the sum of (zero or more) reported male and female sex partners.
IQR indicates interquartile range.