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Table 4 Health behaviours and outcomes reported by men who have sex exclusively with women (MSEW), all men who have sex with men (MSM) and MSM who identified as gay in Natsal-3

From: The health and well-being of men who have sex with men (MSM) in Britain: Evidence from the third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3)

 

MSEW

All MSM

 

MSM who identified as gayb

 

Denominators: a

5069, 6257

190, 191

 

107, 99

 
 

% [95 % CI]

% [95 % CI]

p-value*

% [95 % CI]

p-value**

Health behaviours

     

 Usual alcohol consumption more than recommended levelsc

8.8 [8–9.8]

11.4 [7.2–17.6]

 

10.3 [5.7–18.0]

 

  aAOR [95 % CI]e

1.00

1.43 [0.87–2.36]

0.156

1.67 [0.87–3.21]

0.125

 Usual frequency of binge drinkingd

     

  Never or rarely

60.7 [59.1–62.3]

54.0 [44.9–62.9]

 

58.6 [48–68.5]

 

  Monthly

17.5 [16.4–18.8]

24.9 [17.3–34.4]

 

25.4 [16.6–36.8]

 

  Weekly or daily

21.7 [20.4–23.1]

21.1 [15.1–28.7]

 

16.0 [9.9–24.8]

 

  aAOR [95 % CI]e,f

1.00

0.99 [0.66–1.49]

0.972

0.84 [0.49–1.45]

0.535

 Smoking status

     

  Never

47.2 [45.6–48.9]

29.5 [22.7–37.4]

 

30.2 [21.5–40.6]

 

  Ex-smoker

25.9 [24.5–27.4]

32.6 [25.2–41]

 

38.9 [28.8–49.9]

 

  Current smoker

26.8 [25.4–28.3]

37.9 [30–46.4]

 

30.9 [22.1–41.4]

 

  aAOR [95 % CI]e,f

1.00

1.72 [1.21–2.45]

0.003

1.37 [0.87–2.16]

0.173

 Recreational drug use, past year

     

  None

84.3 [83.2–85.3]

64.0 [56–71.3]

 

59.1 [47.4–69.9]

 

  Cannabis only

9.1 [8.3–9.9]

10.2 [6.1–16.7]

 

8.1 [3.2–19]

 

  Cannabis and/or other drugs

6.7 [6.0–7.4]

25.8 [19.3–33.6]

 

32.8 [23.9–43.2]

 

  aAOR [95 % CI]e,f

1.00

3.46 [2.22–5.40]

<0.001

4.18 [2.33–7.49]

<0.001

 Injecting drug use, ever

1.3 [1.0–1.7]

0.7 [0.2–2.8]

 

0.8 [0.1–5.4]

 

  aAOR [95 % CI]e

1.00

0.49 [0.11–2.08]

0.332

0.53 [0.07–3.90]

0.529

 Taken any medications that have limited your sexual activity or enjoyment, past year

7.8 [7.0–8.7]

16.8 [11.3–24.2]

 

21.5 [12.8–33.9]

 

  aAOR [95 % CI]e

1.00

2.56 [1.57–4.19]

<0.001

3.24 [1.77–5.94]

<0.001

Health outcomes

     

 Self-reported health status [‘bad’/‘very bad’]g

3.1 [2.7–3.7]

5.2 [2.7–9.7]

 

9.5 [4.1–20.5]

 

  aAOR [95 % CI]e

1.00

1.67 [0.88–3.18]

0.117

2.23 [0.99–5.01]

0.052

 ≥1 long-standing illness/disability/infirmity

29.9 [28.5–31.4]

38.1 [30.8–45.9]

 

44.1 [34.7–53.9]

 

  aAOR [95 % CI]e

1.00

1.46 [1.02–2.09]

0.041

1.65 [1.03–2.67]

0.039

 Number of chronic conditionsh

     

  0

68.7 [67.2–70.1]

66 [57.5–73.6]

 

58.4 [50.4–65.9]

 

  1

20.6 [19.3–22.0]

20.2 [14.0–28.2]

 

22.7 [13.6–35.4]

 

  ≥2

10.7 [9.8–11.8]

13.8 [8.8–21.0]

 

18.9 [11.0–30.7]

 

  aAOR [95 % CI]e,f

1.00

1.16 [0.75–1.81]

0.67

1.31 [0.79–2.18]

0.293

 Body Mass Indexi

     

  Healthy: 18.5–24.9 kg/m2

40.6 [39.1–42.1]

46.1 [37.2–55.2]

 

47.5 [35.8–59.5]

 

  Underweight: <18.5 kg/m2

1.1 [0.9–1.5]

2.7 [1.3–5.3]

 

2.4 [0.9–6.1]

 

  Overweight: 25–30 kg/m2

40.0 [38.4–41.6]

28.4 [21.1–36.9]

 

37.3 [26.9–49.0]

 

  Obese: >30 kg/m2

18.3 [16.5–20.3]

22.9 [13.5–38.2]

 

12.8 [4.6–29.6]

 

  aAOR [95 % CI]e,f

1.00

0.77 [0.54–1.11]

0.156

0.68 [0.44–1.07]

0.094

 Screened positive for depression at interviewj

8.9 [8.1–9.8]

8.9 [5.5–14.3]

 

6.4 [3.5–11.7]

 

  aAOR [95 % CI]e

1.00

1.03 [0.62–1.70]

0.909

0.92 [0.48–1.77]

0.797

 Received treatment for depression from a health professional, past year

5.8 [5.1–6.5]

14.0 [9.2–20.5]

 

19.9 [11.9–31.4]

 

  aAOR [95 % CI]e

1.00

2.75 [1.69–4.47]

<0.001

4.03 [2.30–7.07]

<0.001

 Any health condition/disability that has affected sexual activity/enjoyment, past year

15.3 [14.2–16.5]

27.1 [19.9–35.7]

 

29.3 [19.2–42.1]

 

  aAOR [95 % CI]e

1.00

2.24 [1.48–3.39]

<0.001

2.57 [1.52–4.37]

<0.001

  1. All estimates are age-standardised
  2. *p-value for comparing all MSM to MSEW
  3. **p-value for comparing MSM who identified as gay in Natsal-3 to MSEW. Note that MSM who identify as gay are a subset of all MSM
  4. aUnweighted, weighted denominators defined as participants who reported at least one sexual partner in the 5 years prior to interview
  5. bMSM who identified as gay in Natsal-3 are a subset of all MSM
  6. cDefined as usual alcohol consumption greater than recommended levels of 21 units per week [34]
  7. dDefined as usually drinking more than 8 units of alcohol on one occasion [34]
  8. eaAOR = age-adjusted odds ratio
  9. fAge-adjusted odds ratio for reporting the responses in bold font [for those variables with >2 response options] relative to MSEW
  10. gIn contrast to reporting ‘very good’, ‘good’, or ‘fair’
  11. hMeasure of comorbidity includes arthritis, heart attack, coronary heart disease, angina, other forms of heart disease, hypertension, stroke, diabetes, broken hip or pelvis bone or hip replacement ever, backache lasting >3 months, any other muscle or bone disease lasting >3 months, cancer, and any thyroid condition treated in the past year [4]
  12. iBody Mass Index thresholds as per National Obesity Observatory/Public Health England [35]
  13. jAs per PHQ-2 [15, 16]
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BMC Public Health

ISSN: 1471-2458

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