 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Tara Robinson, MA1, Jeffrey Mayer, PhD2, and Freida Weaver, MA1. (1) Department of Health, City of Saint Louis, 634 North Grand Blvd., 2nd Floor, Saint Louis, MO 63103, (2) School of Public Health, Saint Louis University, Salus Center, 3545 Lafayette Avenue, Saint Louis, MO 63104, (314)977-8124, Mayerjp@slu.edu
Objective: Anecdotal reports suggest that many men who have sex with men (MSM) report fatigue or 'burn-out' from long-term and repeated receipt of safe-sex messages. Prevention message fatigue may be a growing risk for inconsistent condom use not addressed in current interventions. Methods: All consecutive attendees at a Saint Louis bathhouse from June-September 2001 were asked to complete a 9-page survey in return for a $15 incentive. Independent variables included prevention message fatigue, HAART-related reduced HIV concern, fatalism, sensation-seeking, social norms and condom benefits and barriers. Message fatigue was assessed with a five-item scale with a Cronbach alpha of .80. Alphas for the other independent variables ranged from .66 to .87. Dependent variables included frequency of condom use during insertive and receptive anal sex with casual partners. Results: Of 379 men approached, 350 completed the survey (response rate = 92%). Mean age was 39 years, and one-half had a college degree. Mean number of casual partners per month was 1.1 for receptive anal sex, and 1.4 for insertive anal sex. One-third reported using condoms half the time or less. In stepwise regression analyses, message fatigue, HAART-related reduced HIV concern, social norms and condom barriers explained 10-12% of the variance in condom use. Moreover, after controlling for age, education and number of partners, message fatigue contributed significantly to explaining condom use (p< .05). Conclusion: Overcoming message fatigue may be an important component for interventions promoting consistent condom use among MSM.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: HIV Risk Behavior, Gay Men
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.