Table 2.
Demographic characteristics and sexual practices among men who have sex with men attending a sexual health centre in Melbourne, 2011–2018, stratified by men who have sex with men only (MSMO) and men who have sex with men and women (MSMW)
| Men who have sex with men only (N=12 795) | Men who have sex with men and women (N=1979) | P value | |
| n (%) | n (%) | ||
| Age (years), median (IQR) | 27 (23–33) | 29 (24–38) | <0.001 |
| Country of birth | <0.001 | ||
| Australia | 6208 (48.5) | 1094 (55.3) | |
| Overseas | 6110 (47.8) | 790 (39.9) | |
| No information | 477 (3.7) | 95 (4.8) | |
| Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Status | 0.224 | ||
| Indigenous origin | 150 (1.2) | 17 (0.9) | |
| Non-indigenous origin | 11 595 (90.6) | 1783 (90.1) | |
| No information | 1050 (8.2) | 179 (9.0) | |
| Sex overseas in the past 12 months | 0.060 | ||
| Yes | 4415 (34.5) | 735 (37.1) | |
| No | 7571 (59.2) | 1131 (57.2) | |
| No information | 809 (6.3) | 113 (5.7) | |
| Sex work during lifetime | 0.574 | ||
| Yes | 71 (0.6) | 13 (0.7) | |
| No | 12 724 (99.4) | 1966 (99.3) | |
| Injected drug use in the past 12 months | 0.032 | ||
| Yes | 211 (1.6) | 40 (2.0) | |
| No | 12 363 (96.6) | 1890 (95.5) | |
| No information | 221 (1.7) | 49 (2.5) | |
| No of female and male sexual partners in the past 12 months, median (IQR) | 5 (3–10) | 6 (4–11) | <0.001 |
| No of male sexual partners in the past 12 months, median (IQR) | 5 (3–10) | 2 (1–5) | <0.001 |
| No of female sexual partners in the past 12 months, median (IQR) | NA | 2 (1–5) | – |
| Regular sexual partner | – | ||
| No regular partner | 7513 (58.7) | 1053 (53.2) | |
| Regular male partner | 5132 (40.1) | 169 (8.5) | |
| Regular female partner | NA | 663 (33.5) | |
| Regular female and male partner | NA | 91 (4.6) | |
| No information | 150 (1.2) | 3 (0.2) | |
| Anal sexual practice with regular male partners† | 0.118 | ||
| Receptive only | 435 (8.5) | 15 (5.8) | |
| Insertive only | 465 (9.1) | 16 (6.2) | |
| Receptive and insertive | 3921 (76.4) | 214 (82.3) | |
| No anal sex | 234 (4.6) | 9 (3.5) | |
| No information | 77 (1.5) | 6 (2.3) | |
| Condom use with regular male partners in the past 12 months for receptive anal sex*‡ | 0.005 | ||
| Always | 1241 (28.5) | 85 (37.1) | |
| Not always | 3115 (71.5) | 144 (62.9) | |
| Condom use with regular male partners in the past 12 months for insertive anal sex§* | 0.010 | ||
| Always | 1254 (28.6) | 84 (36.5) | |
| Not always | 3132 (71.4) | 146 (63.5) | |
| Vaginal or anal sex with regular female partner*¶ | – | ||
| Yes | NA | 729 (96.7) | |
| No | NA | 10 (1.3) | |
| No information | NA | 15 (2.0) | |
| Condom use with regular female partners in the past 12 months*, ** | – | ||
| Always | NA | 132 (18.1) | |
| Not always | NA | 597 (81.9) | |
| Casual sexual partner | – | ||
| No casual partner | 806 (6.3) | 11 (0.6) | |
| Casual male partner(s) | 11 969 (93.5) | 194 (9.8) | |
| Casual female partner(s) | NA | 30 (1.5) | |
| Casual female and male partner(s) | NA | 1744 (88.1) | |
| No information | 20 (0.2) | 0 (0) | |
| Anal sexual practice with casual male partners | <0.001 | ||
| Receptive only | 1262 (9.9) | 131 (6.6) | |
| Insertive only | 1344 (10.5) | 282 (14.2) | |
| Receptive and insertive | 7835 (61.2) | 1060 (53.6) | |
| No anal sex | 1692 (13.2) | 422 (21.3) | |
| No information | 662 (5.2) | 84 (4.2) | |
| Condom use with casual male partners in the past 12 months for receptive anal sex††* | |||
| Always | 4207 (46.2) | 597 (50.1) | 0.012 |
| Not always | 4890 (53.8) | 594 (49.9) | |
| Condom use with casual male partners in the past 12 months for insertive anal sex*‡‡ | |||
| Always | 4276 (46.6) | 649 (48.4) | 0.223 |
| Not always | 4903 (53.4) | 693 (51.6) | |
| Vaginal or anal sex with casual female partner | – | ||
| Yes | NA | 1686 (85.2) | |
| No | NA | 56 (2.8) | |
| No information | NA | 237 (12.0) | |
| Condom use with casual female partners in the past 12 months§§* | – | ||
| Always | NA | 548 (32.5) | |
| Not always | NA | 1138 (67.5) |
*'Not always’ was defined as men who sometimes, usually or never used a condom with their sexual partners in the past 12 months (with female partners for vaginal and/or anal sex, with male partners for anal sex).
†Only including MSM with regular male partners or regular male and female partners.
‡Only including MSM that referred receptive only or receptive and insertive anal sex with regular male partners.
§Only including MSM that referred insertive only or receptive and insertive anal sex with regular male partners.
¶Only including MSM with regular female partners or regular male and female partners.
**Only including MSM that referred vaginal and/or anal sex with regular female partner.
††Only including MSM that referred receptive only or receptive and insertive anal sex with casual male partners.
‡‡Only including MSM that referred insertive only or receptive and insertive anal sex with casual male partners.
§§Only including MSM that referred vaginal or anal sex with casual female partners.
MSM, men who have sex with men; NA, not applicable.