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Volume 96, Issue 6 (June 2006)
Laura M. Bogart, Rebecca L. Collins, David E. Kanouse, William Cunningham, Robin Beckman, Daniela Golinelli, and Chloe E. Bird Patterns and Correlates of Deliberate Abstinence Among Men and Women With HIV/AIDS. American Journal of Public Health: June 2006, Vol. 96, No. 6, pp. 1078-1084.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2005.070771

Accepted on: Dec 30, 2005

Patterns and Correlates of Deliberate Abstinence Among Men and Women With HIV/AIDS

Laura M. Bogart, PhD, Rebecca L. Collins, PhD, David E. Kanouse, PhD, William Cunningham, MD, MPH, Robin Beckman, MPH, Daniela Golinelli, PhD, and Chloe E. Bird, PhD

Laura M. Bogart, Rebecca L. Collins, David E. Kanouse, Robin Beckman, Daniela Golinelli, and Chloe E. Bird are with the Health Program, RAND Corp, Santa Monica, Calif. William Cunningham is with the Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, Department of Medicine, and the Department of Health Services, School of Public Health, at University of California Los Angeles.

Peer Reviewed

Contributors L. M. Bogart led the origination of the hypotheses, interpretation of the results, and writing of the article. R. L. Collins designed the Risk and Prevention research protocol, helped with study design, and contributed to the writing of the article. D. E. Kanouse helped with the study design and contributed to the writing of the article. W. Cunningham contributed to the origination and design of the study and reviewed all drafts of the article. R. Beckman conducted the data analyses and helped with data interpretation. D. Golinelli oversaw the data analyses and reviewed the statistical content of the article. C. E. Bird obtained funding, led the research study, and contributed to the writing of the article. All of the authors participated in hypothesis generation and data interpretation.



ABSTRACT

Objectives. We examined correlates of deliberate sexual abstinence among gay/bisexual men, heterosexual men, and women in a national probability sample of adults with HIV.

Methods. Participants in the HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study (HCSUS; n=1339) answered questions about oral, anal, or vaginal sexual intercourse in the past 6 months; those who reported none of these behaviors (n=415) were asked about their reasons for abstinence. Of these, 201 participants (11% of gay/bisexual men, 18% of women, 18% of heterosexual men) indicated that their abstinence was deliberate. Multivariate models were used to predict deliberate abstinence.

Results. In multivariate analyses, not having a primary relationship partner/spouse was a significant correlate of deliberate abstinence for all 3 groups. Higher perceived responsibility for limiting disease transmission and nondrinking status were related to deliberate abstinence only among gay/bisexual men. Worse health was associated with deliberate abstinence only among heterosexual men.

Conclusions. Perhaps because HIV is more common in gay communities, abstinence choices may be more closely linked to a higher sense of responsibility for reducing transmission among gay/bisexual men, and their illness may be less of an impediment to sexual activity.