Associations of Partnership Types and Quality on Cognitive Performance Among Midlife and Older Sexual Minority Men With or Without HIV

Partnership status among sexual minority men (SMM) is a potentially important yet underexplored predictor of cognitive functioning. Using data from the understanding patterns of healthy aging among men who have sex with men substudy of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study, we assessed the associations of partnership status and quality with cognitive performance in middle-aged and older SMM, adjusting for sociodemographic and clinical covariates. Partnership status was classified into four types: “only a primary partnership,” “only a secondary partnership,” “both a primary and secondary relationship,” and “neither a primary nor secondary relationship.” Partnership quality was assessed based on perceived support or strain from partners. Cognitive performance was evaluated using the z-scores on the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), Trail Making Test Parts A (TMT-A) and B (TMT-B), and a composite Z-score that summed the SDMT, TMT-A, and TMT-B z-scores. Among 1067 participants (median age 60, 85.7% college educated), having a primary partner was associated with better cognitive performance (Z-score composite \(\widehat{\upbeta }\) $\widehat{\mathrm{\beta }}$ = 0.41 [95% CI 0.12–0.70]), TMT-A ( \(\widehat{\upbeta }\) $\widehat{\mathrm{\beta }}$ = 0.16 [95% CI 0.02–0.30]), and TMT-B ( \(\widehat{\upbeta }\) $\widehat{\mathrm{\beta }}$ = 0.19 [95% CI 0.06–0.33]). Support from secondary partners was also linked to better cognition. Additionally, there was a significant interaction between partnership and HIV status, indicating that SMM with HIV and both primary and secondary partners showed better cognitive outcomes than unpartnered SMM with HIV. These findings suggest that having a primary partner and receiving support from secondary partners may contribute to better cognitive health among middle-aged and older SMM, especially those with HIV.