Recent
epidemiological studies suggest that, due to inconsistent condom
use, bisexual men may be the most at-risk for transmission of human
immunodeficiency virus and other sexually transmitted infections. Mechanisms disposing bisexual men to risk
include
intravenous drug use (IDU), sex work, engaging in sex while
intoxicated, and
having a high number of sexual partners.
However, relatively little is known at large about condom use
among bisexual
men as distinct from exclusively homosexual and heterosexual men. Moreover, most previous research on bisexual
men has relied on non-probabilistic, and often high risk, samples with
limited
generalizability. In this paper, we
examine the relationship between male behavioral bisexuality and condom
use. Our data are taken from the 2002
cycle of the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), a
nationally-representative
area probability sample. Using only
weighted data, we perform t-tests and logistic regression analyses. Results indicate that bisexual men have
significantly more IDU, sex work, sex while intoxicated, and sex
partners. However, bisexual men do not
report using
condoms less often than other men. Indeed,
with female partners, bisexual men report higher rates of condom use
than homosexual
and heterosexual men with their male and female partners, respectively.
The relationship between behavioral sexual
orientation and condom use persists when race/ethnicity, age, marital
status,
socioeconomic status, sexual identity, and risk covariates are held
constant. Our results suggest that
caution must be used when making assumptions from non-probabilistic
samples about
condom use in the general population of bisexual men.