Factors Associated With Recent Decline in Anal Health Among Older Gay and Bisexual Men: A Cross-sectional Analysis

Sian L Goddard; I Mary Poynten; Kathy Petoumenos; Fengyi Jin; Richard J Hillman; Christopher K Fairley; Suzanne M Garland; Andrew E Grulich; David J Templeton; Study for the Prevention of Anal Cancer (SPANC) Research Team

doi:10.1097/LGT.0000000000000818

Factors Associated With Recent Decline in Anal Health Among Older Gay and Bisexual Men: A Cross-sectional Analysis

J Low Genit Tract Dis. 2024 May 6. doi: 10.1097/LGT.0000000000000818. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Sian L Goddard, I Mary Poynten¹, Kathy Petoumenos¹, Fengyi Jin¹, Richard J Hillman², Christopher K Fairley³, Suzanne M Garland, Andrew E Grulich¹, David J Templeton; Study for the Prevention of Anal Cancer (SPANC) Research Team

Affiliations

¹ The Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
² St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
³ Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and Central Clinical School Monash University Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

PMID: 38709111
DOI: 10.1097/LGT.0000000000000818

Abstract

We investigated factors associated with "worse than usual" anal health among gay and bisexual men aged ≥35 years recruited to a longitudinal study of anal human papillomavirus infection/lesions from September 2010 to August 2015.Among 616 participants (median age 49 years; 36% HIV-positive), 42 (6.8%) reported worse than usual anal health in the last 4 weeks. Associated factors included spending less time with gay friends (odds ratio [OR] = 2.25, 95% CI = 1.06-4.77), most time "feeling down"(OR = 9.17, 95% CI = 2.94-28.59), reduced libido (OR = 2.90, 95% CI = 1.52-5.52), current anal symptoms (OR = 6.55, 95% CI = 2.54-16.90), recent anal wart diagnosis (OR = 4.33, 95% CI = 1.98-9.49), and fear of developing anal cancer (OR = 9.34, 95% CI = 4.52-19.28).Concerns regarding anal health should be routinely discussed by clinicians, and potentially associated psychosocial, physical, and sexual issues further explored.