Age and race mixing patterns of sexual partnerships among Asian men who have sex with men: implications for HIV transmission and prevention.

Recent studies of U.S. men who have sex with men (MSM) have reported high rates of unprotected anal intercourse but low rates of HIV infection among Asian and Pacific Islander (API) men. We investigated this discrepancy by examining the characteristics of sexual partnerships among API MSM. Multivariate logistic regression analyses found that having an API partner was related to having unprotected anal intercourse after controlling for respondent's age, number of sexual partners, and partner type. Having an API partner and a younger partner were related to respondent reports of unprotected insertive anal intercourse. However, a partner's race and age did not predict unprotected receptive anal intercourse. Study findings suggest that HIV prevalence among API MSM may have remained relatively low because higher risk sexual practices occur more frequently within a lower risk API group compared with higher risk non-API groups. However, because the possibility for the rise of HV infection in this population still exists if HIV spreads from older to younger men, HIV prevention efforts must target partner characteristics to maintain low HIV prevalence among API MSM.