A respondent-driven sampling and analysis study to identify correlates of condom use among immigrant Latino MSM

Background: This study identified correlates of condom use among predominantly Spanish-speaking immigrant Latino men who have sex with men (MSM) using respondent-driven sampling (RDS).

Methods: A well-established community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnership used RDS to identify, recruit, and enroll Latino MSM to participate in an interviewer-administered behavioral assessment.

The assessment included demographics, acculturation, HIV/STD knowledge, perceived discrimination, mastery, adherence to traditional notions of masculinity, condom use self-efficacy and expectancies, sexual compulsivity, homonegativity, emotional victimization, level of “outness”, and drug and alcohol use. Logistic regression was performed to identify significant correlates of condom use using an innovative approach to account for RDS-weighted estimates.

Results: A sample size of 190 Latino MSM was obtained; average age was 25.5 years old and nearly 80% reported being from Mexico. RDS-weighted prevalence estimates of sex with at least one woman, multiple male partners, and past three-month inconsistent condom use were 21.2%, 88.9%, and 54.1%, respectively.

Condom use self-efficacy was significantly associated with higher odds of consistent condom use (OR=4.1; p=.01), while increased emotional victimization for being gay was significantly associated with lower odds of consistent condom use (OR=0.25; p=.02).

Conclusions: This study identified correlates of consistent condom use among Latino MSM, who are part of the current trend of Latino immigration to the rural Southeast. Interventions designed to reduce sexual risk among Latino MSM may benefit from building condom use self-efficacy while addressing more complex issues of self-identity and coping. Our HOLA interventions are designed to affect these variables positively.