High-risk Behavior Among U.S. Military HIV-Infected Active-Duty and Retired Personnel

BACKGROUND: Despite a high incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), sexual behavior among U.S. military personnel remains understudied. Since 2014, the U.S. Military HIV Natural History Study has administered a behavioral questionnaire to a cohort of HIV-infected active-duty (AD) and retired personnel (RP). We compared patterns of risk behavior between AD and RP. METHODS: Male participants who completed a behavioral questionnaire (n = 1,465) were included in this study. Chi-square and stepwise logistic regression were used to compare AD with RP. Our model included all behavioral variables listed below with adjustment for age and race. We assumed a priori that duty status would be correlated with age and selected the former as our variable of interest, hypothesizing that AD would engage in a higher number of risk behaviors. RESULTS: Selected demographics and behavioral data are summarized below. CONCLUSION: In contrast with our hypothesis, we found a high prevalence of sexual risk behavior among both AD and RP, and only lifetime use of hard drugs was independently associated with duty status. Despite high STI rates, ~20% in either group reported high self-perceived risk for STIs and/or recent condomless sex with an anonymous partner. Our findings demonstrate a need for intensive STI screening and counseling among HIV-infected military personnel in multiple career stages. DISCLOSURES: All authors: No reported disclosures.