TY - JOUR
T1 - Chemsex among men who have sex with men living outside major cities and associations with sexually transmitted infections
T2 - A cross-sectional study in the Netherlands
AU - Evers, Ymke J.
AU - Van Liere, Genevieve A. F. S.
AU - Hoebe, Christian J. P. A.
AU - Dukers-Muijrers, Nicole H. T. M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Evers et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2019/5/14
Y1 - 2019/5/14
N2 - BackgroundThe intentional use of drugs to have sex-chemsex-among men who have sex with men (MSM) might contribute to the high sexually transmitted infections (STI) prevalence in this group. Limited data is available on chemsex outside major cities. The current study investigated the use of a wide variety of drugs during sex among MSM living outside major cities in the Netherlands and their associations with STI.MethodsIn 2018, 350 MSM were recruited at STI clinics and 250 MSM completed an online questionnaire. Questionnaire data were linked to clients' most recent STI laboratory test results. Chemsex was defined as using cocaine, crystal meth, designer drugs, GHB/GBL, ketamine, speed, or XTC/MDMA during sex in the preceding six months. The use of other drugs was also assessed. Determinants (chemsex, specific drugs, number of drugs, combining, and frequency) potentially associated with STI were assessed using multivariable logistic regression analyses adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and sexual history.ResultsChemsex was reported by 35% (95%CI: 29-41) of the 250 participants. XTC/MDMA (27%; 68/250) and GHB/GBL (26%; 64/250) were the most used drugs. STI positivity was 33% (29/87) in MSM engaging in chemsex and 12% (12/163) in MSM not engaging in chemsex (pConclusionThis study shows that chemsex is prevalent among MSM visiting the STI clinic outside major cities in the Netherlands, suggesting that health services in both urban and non urban areas should be aware of and informed on chemsex. MSM who used multiple drugs are at particular risk for STI, indicating a special need for STI prevention and care in this group.
AB - BackgroundThe intentional use of drugs to have sex-chemsex-among men who have sex with men (MSM) might contribute to the high sexually transmitted infections (STI) prevalence in this group. Limited data is available on chemsex outside major cities. The current study investigated the use of a wide variety of drugs during sex among MSM living outside major cities in the Netherlands and their associations with STI.MethodsIn 2018, 350 MSM were recruited at STI clinics and 250 MSM completed an online questionnaire. Questionnaire data were linked to clients' most recent STI laboratory test results. Chemsex was defined as using cocaine, crystal meth, designer drugs, GHB/GBL, ketamine, speed, or XTC/MDMA during sex in the preceding six months. The use of other drugs was also assessed. Determinants (chemsex, specific drugs, number of drugs, combining, and frequency) potentially associated with STI were assessed using multivariable logistic regression analyses adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and sexual history.ResultsChemsex was reported by 35% (95%CI: 29-41) of the 250 participants. XTC/MDMA (27%; 68/250) and GHB/GBL (26%; 64/250) were the most used drugs. STI positivity was 33% (29/87) in MSM engaging in chemsex and 12% (12/163) in MSM not engaging in chemsex (pConclusionThis study shows that chemsex is prevalent among MSM visiting the STI clinic outside major cities in the Netherlands, suggesting that health services in both urban and non urban areas should be aware of and informed on chemsex. MSM who used multiple drugs are at particular risk for STI, indicating a special need for STI prevention and care in this group.
KW - ILLICIT DRUG-USE
KW - RISK BEHAVIOR
KW - SUBSTANCE USE
KW - GAY MEN
KW - HIV
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0216732
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0216732
M3 - Article
C2 - 31086390
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 14
JO - PLOS ONE
JF - PLOS ONE
IS - 5
M1 - e0216732
ER -