SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE ABOUT MALE VULNERABILITY TO SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS

Abstract

The term vulnerability has been defined as the chance of exposure of people to illness. Regarding Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), this term allowed a broader view of how issues related to social inequality, sexual diversity, race/ethnicity, prejudice and discrimination, among other factors that can affect the way of life of different population segments . This is an integrative review, whose objective was to identify the scientific evidence about male vulnerability to Sexually Transmitted Infections. Articles from the Virtual Health Library were used, and the search was carried out using the following descriptors: vulnerability; men's health and sexually transmitted infections. Inclusion criteria were articles published in Portuguese, in full and that portrayed the related theme, without temporal cut. Exclusion criteria were integrative review studies, repeated articles and articles that did not respond to the guiding question. 122 publications were identified and, after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 12 articles made up the final sample. According to the main results, the complexity of understanding male vulnerability to STIs is pointed out, since it involves not only individual issues, but also cultural and social ones. At the individual level, the use of condoms was pointed out as something inconstant and irregular. Regarding cultural aspects, emphasis was placed on the representations that men have of feeling invulnerable to STIs. Programmatic vulnerability was also identified, especially for people with disabilities. In this way, the complexity of male vulnerability to STIs requires health professionals to re-dimension the very notion of vulnerability and the peculiar characteristics of men. Thus, it is believed that understanding how these men build their masculinity and perception of vulnerability in relation to STIs may be able to create subsidies and strengthen social equipment with innovative technologies in the elaboration of interventions.