Self-reported anal symptoms and their association with anal pathology among gay and bisexual men: a cross-sectional observational analysis

Sian L. Goddard, I. Mary Poynten, Kathy Petoumenos, Fengyi Jin, Richard J. Hillman, Carmella Law, Jennifer M. Roberts, Christopher K. Fairley, Suzanne M. Garland, Andrew E. Grulich, David J. Templeton, on behalf of the Study of the Prevention of Anal Cancer (SPANC) Research Team Anal symptoms are common and may have benign or serious causes. We investigated the association of anal symptoms with a variety of possible causes among gay and bisexual men and found that one-third of participants reported at least one anal symptom within the past week. Anal pathology was common but often asymptomatic. Anal symptoms do not appear to be useful markers of most anal pathology in gay and bisexual men.
Source: Sexual Health - Category: Sexual Medicine Authors: Source Type: research