HIV risk behaviors among AfricanAmerican men in Los Angeles County who self identify as heterosexual

Summary: There are limited data on high-risk behaviors among heterosexual African American men with HIV infection. Risk behaviors were examined in a case-control study of HIV-infected (n 90) and uninfected (n 272) African American men who self-identified as heterosexual. Of men who self-identified as heterosexual, 31 % (n 28) of the infected men and 16 % (n 43) of the uninfected men reported having had anal sex with men. Among the heterosexual men reporting anal sex with men, 100% of the infected and 67 % of the uninfected men reported inconsistent condom use during anal sex with men. Few of the infected (12%) and uninfected (2%) men reported oral sex with other men. Of the men who self-identified as heterosexual, 46 % of those who were HIV-positive and 37 % of those who were HIV-negative reported anal sex with women with infrequent condom use. An increasing risk for HIV was associated with decreasing age at first sexual experience (2, 9.3; p .002). A history of injecting drugs (odds ratio [OR], 3.1; 95 % confidence intervals [CIs], 1.8, 5.4) and amphetamine (OR, 4.3; 95 % CIs, 1.1, 16.7) and methamphetamine (OR, 2.9; 95 % CIs, 1.4, 6.3) use were associated with HIV. Innovative HIV prevention strategies are needed that mov