Careless optimism: Gay men more likely to practice unsafe sex when hopeful about protease's success rates


Careless optimism: Gay men more likely to practice unsafe sex when hopeful about protease's success rates

The Washington Blade - September 3, 1999
Kai Wright

Gay men who are "optimistic" about the ability of protease inhibitor drug combinations to prolong and enhance the quality of life for people with HIV are more likely to engage in unsafe sex, says a new U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study.

"The more optimistic respondents were," said lead researcher Sheila Murphy from the University of Southern California, "the less likely they were to use condoms during anal sex, to be monogamous, to attempt to determine the HIV status of their sex partners, to limit their number of sex partners, or to abstain from anal sex."

The CDC released the study on Aug. 31 during a three-day conference designed to combat "complacency" about HIV prevention around the nation. Dr. Ronald Valdiserri, deputy director of CDC's National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention, said the study is one more sign of the dramatic need to devote more public and private resources to prevention efforts. "Many Americans equate the improved treatments with a cure, which they are not," Valdiserri said at an Aug. 31 press conference. "America needs to wake up and understand that we need HIV prevention in 1999 just as much as we needed it in 1981."

Murphy's team asked 416 Gay men between the ages of 18 and 41 in West Hollywood, Calif., a series of questions designed to determine their levels of "optimism" about protease inhibitors. Murphy said that the correlation between reporting unsafe sexual practices and reporting high optimism was strongest among HIV-positive men.

CDC officials also stressed at the press conference that, despite dramatic declines in infection rates among men who have sex with men since the 1980s, Gay and bisexual men still account for the overwhelming bulk of AIDS cases. In 38 out of 50 states, men who have sex with men accounted for more than half of the new cases reported between July 1995 and June 1996. In 19 states, men who have sex with men accounted for more than 70 percent of new AIDS cases reported during that time period. Nationally, officials said, Gay and bisexual men are estimated to account for the largest proportion of new infections each year. Officials said young Gay men and Gay men of color in particular are at risk.
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Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 1999. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

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