Prevalence and Determinants of Symptoms of Sexually Transmitted Infections among Men who have Sex with Men in Tamil Nadu, India

This study explores the prevalence of symptoms of Sexually Transmitted Infections and treatment seeking behaviour for STIs among the MSM (kothis, panthis and double-deckers) in Tamil Nadu, India, and to examine the net effect of socio-demographic and sexual risk behaviour factors on the symptoms of STIs and treatment seeking behavior among MSM community. Data for this study has been drawn from the DLCC survey conducted in 2010 by AIDS Prevention and Control (APAC) project, with a sample of 532 MSM in Tamil Nadu. The technique of logistic regression model has been used to estimate the net effect of each socio-demographic and sexual risk behavior factors on the likelihood of reporting symptoms of STIs and on treatment seeking behavior. The study shows that 14.1 percent of MSM reported any symptom of STIs in the past twelve months. Out of the MSM who reported any symptom of STIs, majority of them sought treatment. Multivariate analysis reveals that the significant predictors for the prevalence of symptoms of STIs amongst the MSM were higher level of education, living-in with other sexual partners apart from the spouse, living alone away from the spouse and having more than 11 sexual partners in the last six months.