P513 Convection mixing and the social geography of partner selection among sexual minority men in toronto, canada

Background The geographic distribution of sexually transmitted infections (STI) reflects the underlying social process of sexual partner selection. Our purpose was to explore the social geography of sexual partner selection among sexual minority men and use the results to develop a mid-level theory of urban-non-urban mixing patterns between sexual partners. Methods This integrated mixed methods study involved in-depth interviews with 31 sexual minority men who lived, worked, or socialized in Toronto, Canada, during June and July 2016. We asked participants to describe how they found sexual partners and to reconstruct their egocentric sexual networks for the previous three months. Interviews were conducted iteratively and until theoretical saturation. A social constructionist approach to grounded theory was used to analyze the qualitative data. Egocentric maps were analyzed to determine and describe movement and mixing patterns between sexual partners. Results Geography influenced the social process of partner selection in three important ways: (1) participants expressed a desire to travel the shortest distance possible to meet or hook up with partners (“geographic proximity”); (2) the density of sexual minority men in a participant’s community directly impacted participants social and sexual isolation, and thus how often they had sex (“degree of geosexual isolation”); and 3) geosexual isolation directly impacted the distance a participant was willing to search, and travel, to meet or hook up with partners, thus influencing the sexual mixing pattern (“convection mixing”). The geography of partner selection was also impacted by changes in sexual minority men use of space (“changing use of space”). Conclusion Geosexually isolated participants demonstrated “convection mixing”, with repeated movement from peripheral, to downtown, back to peripheral areas. More attention should be paid to identifying STI reservoirs outside of core areas. Disclosure No significant relationships.