NEW YORK Many researchers and clinicians view Internet use to find sexual partners as a risk factor for sexually transmitted diseases, but it may also have some protective qualities, research indicates.
The risk of acquiring an STD may in fact be lowered in cases where someone finds a romantic partner online with whom they later have sex.
"We have to start thinking not only about how the Internet can increase risk for STDs, but also how online partnering and online behavior can reduce these risks, even among prospective sex partners," Dr. Kees Rietmeijer said at a joint conference of the American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association and the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV.
A survey of more than 500 women who met with a person who answered their online personal ad found that they engaged in extensive e-mail correspondence to negotiate safety, boundaries, sexual preferences, and condom use and to discuss STD status before meeting face to face, said Dr. Rietmeijer, medical director of the STD clinic and control program at the Denver Public Health Department.
However, the survey also revealed that the women engaged in risky sexual behavior. For example, 30% reported that they had sex at the first encounter and 77% did not use condoms at the first encounter. The researchers concluded that the intensity of the e-mail exchange accelerated the intimacy of the relationship (Sex. Res. Soc. Policy 2007;4:27-37).
In a study looking at factors surrounding HIV serostatus discussion in men who have sex with men, Dr. Rietmeijer and associates found that those who found sex partners online were four times more likely to have a discussion of serostatus than were those who found partners in bath houses (Sex. Transm. Dis. 2007;34:215-9).