Study: Circumcision Does Not Protect Black, Latino Gays From HIV

Despite the positive results obtained from circumcision studies of heterosexual men in Africa, findings of a study published in the December 15 issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes show there is no evidence that being circumcised protects against HIV infection among U.S. black or Latino men who have sex with men (MSM), even among those who said they also had sex with women and/or practiced insertive intercourse only, AIDSmap.com reports. The results of the study were also presented at the National HIV Prevention Conference, which was held in Atlanta December 2–5.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted its "Brothers y Hermanos" study between May 2005 and April 2006, recruiting 2,235 black and Latino MSM in New York City, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. Participants were asked, "Is your penis circumcised or cut?" The black participants were more than twice as likely to be circumcised as the Latinos: 74% versus 33%. Circumcised black MSM were more likely to be older, have a higher level of education, have a higher income, and identify as gay than were uncircumcised black MSM. There were fewer differences between circumcised and uncircumcised Latino MSM.

Investigators analyzed all data pertaining to demographics and sexual risks and determined that there was no statistically significant association between circumcision and HIV status among both groups. Investigators then compared men who reported recent male sex partners only with men who reported recent male and female sex partners and again found no significant association between circumcision and HIV status.

"If the results from the African circumcision trials were directly applicable to the MSM in our study, we would have expected to observe a significantly higher prevalence of HIV infection among uncircumcised men," investigators told AIDSmap.com. "Circumcision conferred neither risk nor protection among black men or Latino men in our study, however, and was unrelated to seroconversion among MSM who reported that their last HIV test was negative. Further, there was no evidence that circumcision was protective among men who had only engaged in unprotected insertive anal sex in any of the models."

Investigators were careful to point out, however, that they do not rule out circumcision entirely as a prevention method, adding that this study is not conclusive. (The Advocate)