Background Unlike chlamydia, gonorrhoea is considerably more common in young men who have sex with men (MSM). This may relate to differences in sexual practices although currently studies predominantly focus on anal sex with very limited data on fellatio and kissing. This study aimed to examine a range of different sexual practices among MSM.

Methods MSM who attended the Melbourne Sexual Health Clinic in 2017 were invited to participate in a survey on nine sexual practices engagement with their most recent regular and/or casual partner(s). This included: kissing, touching penises, mutual masturbation, giving/receiving fellatio, giving/receiving rimming as well as insertive/receptive anal sex. Chi-squared trend test was used to examine the age patterns of different sexual practice.

Results 1601 men were included with a median age of 30 (IQR 25–36). Kissing was the most common practice among casual partners (92.4%), followed by giving fellatio (85.8%) and receiving fellatio (83.9%). The least common activity was giving rimming (38.0%), followed by receiving rimming (45.8%). The proportion of kissing decreased with increasing age (95.0% among men aged <30 vs 79.1% among men aged ≥50, p_trend< 0.001). Receiving rimming also decreased with increasing age (p_trend=0.034). Receptive anal sex was more common among younger men (p_trend< 0.001) but insertive anal sex was more common among older men than younger men (p_trend=0.002). Sexual activity had fewer correlations with age among regular partners. Younger men were more likely to masturbate mutually (p_trend=0.031) and receive anal sex from their regular partners (p_trend=0.013).

Conclusion Age is strongly associated with sexual practices among casual partners but less so among regular partners. Younger men more likely to engage in activities associated with gonorrhoea transmission such as kissing and receptive rimming.

Disclosure No significant relationships.