Understanding gay mens sex venues as sites for sexual health promotion

Background: Despite being understood as sites for the potential spread of sexually transmissible infections, we know remarkably little about how men spend their time when they visit sex venues. The present paper aims to describe the nature of men's visits to sex venues in terms of where they arrived from, their use of alcohol and other drugs before and while at the venue, their expenditure of time in a range of activities at the venue, and their awareness of sexual health promotion materials at the venue. Methods: Telephone interviews were conducted with 219 men completed within 2 days of them being recruited as they left a sex venue. Results: The majority of men arrived from home or work and had not consumed alcohol or drugs in the 4h before the visit. The visit lasted 201min on average and time spent in particular sites or activities within venues varied somewhat with respect to the demographic and behavioural characteristics of the men. Most men reported seeing posters or pamphlets dealing with sexual health. Conclusion: Understanding how men use such venues should allow more effective health promotion in those venues.