SynthesisJMIR public health and surveillance2024
Population Percentage and Population Size of Men Who Have Sex With Men in the United States, 2017-2021: Meta-Analysis of 5 Population-Based Surveys.
Synthesis in JMIR public health and surveillance, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Doxycycline Postexposure Prophylaxis May Dramatically Reduce Syphilis Among Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex With Men: A Modeling Study.Sexually transmitted diseases · 2026Article
- An agent-based platform for simulating the impact of chlamydia vaccine in the US population.Nature communications · 2026Article
- County- and State-level Estimates of Population Sizes of Men Who Have Sex With Men Across the United States.Open forum infectious diseases · 2026Article
- An Evidence-Based Approach to Facilitating PrEP Initiation Among YMSM: The MyPEEPS Plus mHealth and E-Peer Navigation Intervention.AIDS education and prevention : official publication of the International Society for AIDS Education · 2026Article
- Evaluating syphilis transmission among MSM population: a mathematical model for reinfection, two-stage treatment, and treatment failure.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- The HIV Epidemic in the United States - Epidemiological Projections and Public Economic Impact of Achieving Zero Transmission Goals.ClinicoEconomics and outcomes research : CEOR · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMale-to-male sexual transmission continues to account for the greatest proportion of new HIV diagnoses in the United States. However, calculating population-specific surveillance metrics for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections requires regularly updated estimates of the number and proportion of men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States, which are not collected by census surveys.
objectiveThe purpose of this analysis was to estimate the number and percentage of MSM in the United States from population-based surveys.
methodsWe used data from 5 population-based surveys to calculate weighted estimates of the proportion of MSM in the United States and pooled these estimates using meta-analytic procedures. We estimated the proportion of MSM using sexual behavior-based questions (encompassing anal or oral sex) for 3 recall periods-past 12 months, past 5 years, and lifetime. In addition, we estimated the proportion of MSM using self-reported identity and attraction survey responses. The total number of MSM and non-MSM in the United States were calculated from estimates of the percentage of MSM who reported sex with another man in the past 12 months.
resultsThe percentage of MSM varied by recall period: 3.3% (95% CI 1.7%-4.9%) indicated sex with another male in the past 12 months, 4.7% (95% CI 0.0%-33.8%) in the past 5 years, and 6.2% (95% CI 2.9%-9.5%) in their lifetime. There were comparable percentages of men who identified as gay or bisexual (3.4%, 95% CI 2.2%-4.6%) or who indicated that they are attracted to other men (4.9%, 95% CI 3.1%-6.7%) based on pooled estimates. Our estimate of the total number of MSM in the United States is 4,230,000 (95% CI 2,179,000-6,281,000) based on the history of recent sexual behavior (sex with another man in the past 12 months).
conclusionsWe calculated the pooled percentage and number of MSM in the United States from a meta-analysis of population-based surveys collected from 2017 to 2021. These estimates update and expand upon those derived from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2012 by including estimates of the percentage of MSM based on sexual identity and sexual attraction. The percentage and number of MSM in the United States is an important indicator for calculating population-specific disease rates and eligibility for preventive interventions such as pre-exposure prophylaxis.
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