A Sexual Affiliation Network of Men Who Have Sex With Men Practicing Risk Sexual Behaviors and Chemsex: A Two-Mode Approach.

BACKGROUND

Dating apps for men who have sex with men (MSM) have facilitated unprotected sexual encounters and practices. In addition, drug use during such encounters is widespread among MSM. Traditionally, these populations have been studied in order to relate these facts to their socioeconomic characteristics and not from the perspective of the structure of their relationships, an aspect included in all nursing metaparadigms.

AIM: Describe the structure of the MSM affiliation network and their dating apps.

METHODS

This was a descriptive cross-sectional study with 32 participants recruited online through the apps. The data used by this article come from the same sample and the same questionnaires as a previously conducted study; full details are provided in the Methods section.

RESULTS

MSM demonstrated varying degrees, engaging with 1-5 applications (normalized degree: 0.200-0.494), while venue popularity spanned from 1 to 32 (normalized degree: 0.031-0.500). The core of the network, including two applications and 16 central MSM units, exhibited a higher density, that is, a high number of connections (0.593), compared to the periphery (0.050), indicating significant centralization.

CONCLUSION

The sexual affiliation network of MSM forms a cohesive, extensive network, with higher app usage affinity seen among individuals who use drugs, are from different birth countries, engage in group sex, or identify with nonhomosexual orientations.