A COMPARATIVE DEMOGRAPHIC AND SEXUAL PROFILE OF OLDER HOMOSEXUALLY ACTIVE MEN

Our analysis draws a comparative profile of older homosexually active men For an Australian national telephone survey (Project Male-Call), 2 ,583 homosexually active men were interviewed. Questions about demogra phics, types of sexual partners, attachment to gay community, HIV/AIDS , and sexual practices were asked. About 10% (n = 256) of the Male-Cal l men were over 49 years. These older men were likely to live alone (5 2.7%), to be or have been married (62.9%), to have children (56.4%) an d to have lived st their present address for more than five years (67. 5%). Relatively few (12.4%) lived in gay areas, but a significant numb er (29.2% lived in rural regions. They were generally less likely than younger men to have disclosed their sexual orientation (p<.00005). Al though their attachment to gay community was quite strong, it was less than younger melt's in terms of social attachment (P<.00001), cultura l involvement (p<.001) and sexual involvement (p<.00005). As a group, they were less likely to have been tested for HN antibodies (p<.0005). Older men had as many male and female sexual partners in the past six months as did younger men. They had a narrower range of anal (p<.0000 5) and oral/tactile (p<.001) homosexual practices, but differences in oral/tactile repertoire were not significant after controlling for oth er differences between Younger and older men. There were no significan t age differences in rates of condom use during anal intercourse with regular or casual male partners; however, the older men were more like ly to have no anal intercourse with casual partners (p<.005). We concl uded that older homosexually active men are fairly closely attached to gay community. They are sexually active, albeit with a less extensive range of anal practices than their Younger counterparts Although they are generally as safe in sexual conduct as younger men, education cam paigns targeting older men would benefit from using a variety of metro politan and rural, mainstream and gay media to improve safe sex unders tanding and encourage HIV antibody testing.