IRMA Survey on Lubes Used for Anal Sex

IRMA Global Teleconference May 14, 2009

Marc-André LeBlanc, IRMAJim Pickett, IRMAMarjan Javanbakht MPH, PhD, UCLARyan Murphy MPH, UCLAPamina Gorbach, M.H.S, Dr.P.H., UCLA

Why we did this

IRMA launched this survey because Need to test lubes for rectal safety Need to know most popular lubes Acceptability can inform development

Survey Information Internet-based Survey

Survey Monkey with e-promotion Ran 29 weeks in 2007 6 languages (EN/FR/SP/POR/GER/TUR)

8,945 Responses from 107 countries 6,273 reported AI within the past 6 months

(70.1%)

Analysis by UCLA

And the survey says…

Most commonly used lubes for anal sex

How lubes are used Preferred lube characteristics

Useful for informing research & development and programming

Demographics - AgeFigure 1: Age distribuiton of web survery respondents reporting AI within the

past 6 months (N = 6,248)

20.1

27.028.3

24.7

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

< 25 25 - 34 35 - 44 ≥ 45

Age Group

Perc

ent (

%)

Demographics - GenderFigure 2: Gender distribution of web survey respondents reporting AI within the

past 6 months (N = 6,246)

Female, 6.9% Transgender, 1.3%

Male, 91.9%

Demographics - RegionFigure 3: Geographic distribution of web survey respondents reporting AI within

the past 6 months (N = 6,061)

69.6

21.7

3.3 2.8 1.9 0.5 0.30

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

North A

merica

Europe

Latin

Ameri

ca/C

aribb

ean

Asia

Ocean

iaAfric

a

Middle

East

Region

Perc

ent (

%)

Demographics - LanguageFigure 4: Language distribution of web survey respondents reporting AI within

the past 6 months (N = 6,273)

81.2

12.1

3.0 1.7 1.0 1.00

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

English Turkish Spanish Portuguese French German

Language

Perc

ent (

%)

Caveats Given demographics, note influence of

Men (92%) English-language (81%) North America (70%)

on broad overview of results.

Condom use by sex actFigure 5: Condom use practices by sex act, among web survey respondents

reporting AI w ithin the past 6 months

50.9

27.7 28.1

20.4

36.7 34.8

28.7

35.7 37.1

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Shared Anal Sex Toy(n=2,377)

IAI (n=4,731) RAI (n=5,053)

Sex Act

Perc

ent (

%)

Never Use/Change Condoms

Rarely/Often Use/Change Condoms

Always Use/Change Condoms

Reasons for not using lubricant - all respondents

Figure 6: Reasons for not using lubricant, among web survey respondents reporting AI within the past 6 months (n=1,746)

56.9

47.7

27.5 24.919.1 17.0 15.1

7.7 7.6 6.92.5

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Used S

aliva

Lube

Not

Availa

ble

Prefer

Dry Sex

Used L

uberi

cated

Con

dom

In a R

ush

Partne

r in a

Rush

Used V

agina

l Flui

d

Partne

r Refu

sed

Could

not A

fford

Dislike

Lube

Other

Reasons for not using Lubricant

Perc

ent (

%)

Reasons for not using lubricant - women

Reasons for not Using Lubricant among Female Web Survey Respondents Reporting AI within the past 6 months (N = 329)

50.6

25.017.6 17.6

10.816.5

63.6

2.3 2.86.3

1.70

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Used s

aliva

Lube

Not

Availa

ble

Prefer

Dry

Sex

Used l

ubric

ated c

ondo

m

In a R

ush

Partne

r in a

Rush

Used v

agina

l fluid

Partne

r Refu

sed

Could

not A

fford

Dislike

lube

Other

Substances added to lubricant – all respondents

Figure 12: Substances added to lubricant, among web survey respondents reporting AI within the past 6 months (n=5,005)

41.0

55.0

8.56.2 4.2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

None Spit/Saliva Water Vaginal Fluid Other

Substance

Perc

ent (

%)

Substances added to lubricant - women

Additions to Lubricant Among FemaleWeb survey Respondents Reporting AI within the past 6 months (n = 329)

39.944.2

6.7

43.6

3.2

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

None Spit/saliva Water Vaginal fluid Other

Additions to Lubricant

Perc

ent (

%)

Conclusions Low condom use, but lube use is

relatively common High acceptability of RMs formulated as

lubes? Take into account saliva, vaginal fluid,

water On their own: impact on STIs, HIV? With lubes/RMs: impact on protective effect?

Next Steps Finish analysis

Qualitative analysis

Work with researchers to test lube safety and integrate findings around acceptability and preferred characteristics

Continue to urge for more data on AI-related behaviours

Deep appreciation to:

UCLA for assistance with survey development and analysis

IRMA members and partners for promoting survey

Translators for extending the reach of the survey

All survey respondents!

And thanks to you