A report on the largest ever survey of men who have sex with men (MSM) living in Ireland, MISI 2015, has just been published. The survey was open for completion for 13 weeks from March to May 2015. There were 3,234 responses by the close of the survey, 3,090 of which were eligible for inclusion in the analysis. The age range of men was 18-80 years and median age was 30 years. Men responded from all counties in Ireland with the highest number of respondents living in Dublin. Slightly more than half of the respondents were single, and almost 40% were in a relationship with a man. Not all identified as gay; 13% identified as bisexual, and a quarter of respondents reported being attracted to women at least sometimes. More than half of MSM were out to all or almost all who know them.

Almost four in 10 men had never tested for HIV or STIs. Those least likely to have ever had a HIV or STI test were young, living outside Dublin, did not identify as gay, were out to few or no one or had a lower level of education. Of those who had ever tested for HIV, 8% were HIV positive. One in five men who had tested for an STI in the previous 12 months was diagnosed with an STI.

Ninety percent of respondents had sex with a man in the last 12 months and 55% had unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) in the last 12 months. Overall, 24% of men reported lack of access to a condom in the previous 12 months and this was greatest among young people, with 44% of 18-19 year olds reporting lack of access. Of men who reported having a new male sex partner in the last 12 months, 62% met their most recent sex partner via a smartphone app or website, 22% in social venues and 11% in sex focused venues. Fourteen percent of men had sex with a woman in the last 12 months and 32% reported never using a condom.

Encouragingly, for the 40% of men who had seen the “Get Tested” campaign for HIV, one third said that the campaign encouraged them to test for HIV. For the “It’s hard, it’s easy” condom campaign, 39% of men who had seen it said that the campaign had encouraged them to access free condoms, and 48% said that it encouraged them to get and carry condoms. Both campaigns were run in partnerships between the Gay Health Network (GHN) and the HSE as part of the man2man.ie initiative.  

To access the full MISI 2015 report and a copy of the executive summary, please click here.  

Kate O'Donnell and Derval Igoe, HPSC