Men who have sex with men (MSM): representations and practices for the prevention of sexually transmitted infections.

This is a descriptive, qualitative study, supported by the Theory of Social Representations, in the structural approach. The objective of this study was to analyze the social representations of sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention practices in the group of men who have sex with men (MSM). One hundred homosexual men, aged 18 to 29 years, participated in the study, who answered a questionnaire for social and practice characterization, and a free evocation form, according to the inducing term "STD prevention". Free evocations were analyzed with prototypical and similarity analysis techniques. The group investigated in this study was between 26 and 29 years of age (65%), reported the presence of a fixed sexual partner (67%), and 45% had used condoms inconsistently or sporadically in the last 12 months. In the prototypical analysis, the elements that constitute the probable central nucleus were condoms, PrEP, and care, which was reinforced by the similarity analysis. The social representation of the prevention of STIs of MSM is anchored in self-care; however, the type of sexual partnership and trust in the partner are defining factors for adherence or not to infection prevention practices.