Social networks of men who have sex with men: a study of recruitment chains using Respondent Driven Sampling in Salvador, Bahia State, Brazil

Brignol, Sandra Mara Silva; Dourado, Inês; Amorim, Leila Denise; Miranda, José Garcia Vivas; Kerr, Lígia R. F. S.

doi:10.1590/0102-311X00085614

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ARTICLE • Cad. Saúde Pública 31 (suppl 1) • Nov 2015 • https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311X00085614 copy

Social networks of men who have sex with men: a study of recruitment chains using Respondent Driven Sampling in Salvador, Bahia State, Brazil

Las redes sociales de hombres que mantienen sexo con hombres: estudio de muestreo en cadena con Respondent Driven Sampling en Salvador, Bahía, Brasil

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

Social and sexual contact networks between men who have sex with men (MSM) play an important role in understanding the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). In Salvador (Bahia State, Brazil), one of the cities in the survey Behavior, Attitudes, Practices, and Prevalence of HIV and Syphilis among Men Who Have Sex with Men in 10 Brazilian Cities, data were collected in 2008/2009 from a sample of 383 MSM using Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS). Network analysis was used to study friendship networks and sexual partner networks. The study also focused on the association between the number of links (degree) and the number of sexual partners, in addition to socio-demographic characteristics. The networks’ structure potentially facilitates HIV transmission. However, the same networks can also be used to spread messages on STI/HIV prevention, since the proximity and similarity of MSM in these networks can encourage behavior change and positive attitudes towards prevention.

Male Homosexuality; Sexual Behavior; HIV; Social Networking

RDS recruitment network	n	Mean	Median	Minimum	Maximum
Demographic factors
Years of schooling	382	11.4	11	1	22
Monthly family income (BRL)	271	1,733	1,000	0	60,000
Age	382	25.3	24	18	53
Recruitment
How many men do you know and that know you, and that you think have sex with other men, and live in Salvador?	383	133	30	1	5,000
Of these men, how many are 18 or older?	381	98.5	25	1	3,700
How many of these men 18 or older did you meet with or speak to personally or by telephone or internet in the last two months?	379	38.1	10	1	3,650
Of these men who have sex with men, that are18 or older and that you met or spoke with in the last two months, how many would you invite to participate in this study?	374	27.8	8	1	3,650
Of these men that you met with or spoke to in the last two months and would invite to participate in the study, with how many have you had sex?	374	5.3	1	0	200
Of these men that you met or spoke with in the last two months and that you would invite to participate in the study, how many do you think know each other?	369	11.9	5	0	200
In the last two months, how often have you seen the person that gave you the invitation for you to participate in the study?	380	26.9	20	0	100
Sexual behavior (during the six months prior to the interview)
How many sexual partners have you had?	362 *	8.2	3	1	451
How many of these partners were men?	342 *	7.5	3	1	450
With how many steady partners have you had sex?	241	1.3	1	1	5
How many of these steady partners were men?	197	1.2	1	1	5
With how many casual partners have you had sex?	284	6.2	2	1	150
How many of these casual partners were men?	253	6.0	1	1	150
With how many commercial partners have you had sex?	68	13.1	2	1	451
How many of these commercial partners were men?	62	12.9	2	1	450

Network	N	M (edges)	L *	C ^,*	Global C	k ^#	Mo ^##	Normality test ^###	Distribution of degrees ^§
Recruiting chains RDS (383.2)	383	365	11.3	0.00	-	1.9	0.9	-	-
Network structure (383.2)	383	370	7.4	0.01	-	1.9	0.8	-	-
Basic network: 60-day self-reported network	383	12 ^§§	-	-	0.01	38	-	Normality rejected	Any
Network structure ^§§§ (383.38, p = 38/383 = 0.099)	383	7.342	2.2	0.05	-	38.3	0.1	-	Normal
Networks of friends that would invite to participate	383	12 ^§§	-	-	0.09	18	-	Normality rejected	Any
Network structure ^§§§ (383.18, p = 18/383 = 0.047)	383	3.424	2.8	0.02	-	17.9	0.2	-	Normal
Network of sexual partners	383	12 ^§§	-	-	1.2	5	-	Normality rejected	Any
Network structure ^§§§ (383.5, p = 5/383 = 0.047)	383	971	3.1	0.01	-	5.1	0.4	-	Normal
Simulated small-world network ^† (vertices = 383 and Prob. = 18/383 = 0.05)	383	4.596	2,5	0,07		24	0,3	-	-

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[1] Correspondence S. M. S. Brignol Instituto de Saúde Coletiva, Universidade Federal da Bahia. Rua Padre Feijó s/n, Campus Universitário do Canela, Salvador, BA 40110-040, Brasil. sandrabrignol@gmail.com