The STAR study is a questionnaire-based study examining the independent risk factors for urethral gonorrhoea among men who have sex with men.
About gonorrhoea
Gonorrhoea is one of the most common sexually transmissible infections (STIs) globally. Gonorrhoea can infect the throat, genital and anus. Gonorrhoea is usually symptomatic at the genital site; but it is usually asymptomatic in the throat and anus.
About the study
Australia is seeing large rises in gonorrhoea and we do not understand why. We would like to better understand gonorrhoea transmission between men to see if this leads to better advice to reduce these infections.
Main findings:
- A total of 3114 men who have sex with men were recruited and included in the study. We measured urethral exposures such as receiving fellatio, condomless insertive anal sex, docking (covering a partner’s penis with foreskin), and using saliva as a lubricant for masturbation.
- After adjusting for demographic characteristics and urethral exposures, increasing number of condomless insertive anal sex partners was the only significant factor for urethral gonorrhoea.
- Our findings confirm that condomless insertive anal sex is the leading risk factor for urethral gonorrhoea.
Ethics
All research in Australia involving humans is reviewed by an independent group of people called a Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC). The ethical aspects of this research project have been approved by the Alfred Hospital HREC.
This project will be carried out according to the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2007). This statement has been developed to protect the interests of people who agree to participate in human research studies. Approval has been given by the Alfred Hospital HREC which reviews ethics applications for research carried out at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre.
Researchers
Principal investigator
Associate investigator
Student investigator
Publications
Association between saliva use for masturbation and urethral gonorrhoea in men who have sex with men: A cross-sectional study
Tran J, Fairley CK, Ong JJ, Aung ET, Chow EPF
(2024), International Journal of Infectious Diseases,