Men who have sex with men: estimated population sizes and mortality rates by race/ethnicity, Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Background: Estimated numbers of men who have sex with men (MSM) by race/ethnicity and mortality rates among such MSM with HIV/AIDS are unavailable. This hampers efficient targeting of HIV/AIDS prevention and care resources.

Methods: An existing estimation methodology was adapted to develop MSM population estimates by race/ethnicity for Miami-Dade County, Florida. We ascertained and characterized deaths that occurred during 2003 to 2005 among MSM HIV/AIDS cases, matching HIV/AIDS surveillance and vital statistics registries. We calculated estimated average annual racial/ethnic-specific mortality rates and rate ratios (RRs) among MSM HIV/AIDS cases.

Results: An estimated 63,020 men aged > or =18 years in the county are MSM (7.5% of all men aged > or =18 years; point estimate). Among 754 MSM HIV/AIDS deaths, point-estimate mortality rates per 100,000 MSM were higher for blacks (733.5) than for whites (229.2) (P < 0.01) and Hispanics (360.5) (P < 0.01). The best estimate of the black/white MSM mortality RR among HIV/AIDS cases was 3.20:1 (P < 0.01); for Hispanic/white MSM, it was 1.57:1 (P < 0.01). Sensitivity analyses suggested the estimates were reasonably robust to biases that we examined.

Conclusions: Black and Hispanic MSM were more likely to die with HIV/AIDS than white MSM. Plausible racial/ethnic-specific MSM population and mortality rate estimates can inform effective HIV/AIDS prevention efforts and program planning.