Substance use and STI acquisition: Secondary analysis from the AWARE study

Abstract

Objectives Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are significant public health and financial burdens in the United States. This manuscript examines the relationship between substance use and prevalent and incident STIs in HIV-negative adult patients at STI clinics. Methods A secondary analysis of Project AWARE was performed based on 5,012 patients from 9 STI clinics. STIs were assessed by laboratory assay and substance use by self-report. Patterns of substance use were assessed using latent class analysis. The relationship of latent class to STI rates was investigated using Poisson regression by population groups at high risk for STIs defined by participant’s and partner’s gender Results Drug use patterns differed by risk group and substance use was related to STI rates with the relationships varying by risk behavior group. Substance use treatment participation was associated with increased STI rates Conclusions Substance use focused interventions may be useful in STI clinics to reduce morbidity associated with substance use. Conversely, gender-specific sexual health interventions may be useful in substance use treatment.

Prevalence of drug use during sex amongst MSM in Europe: Results from a multi-site bio-behavioural survey

“…Nevertheless, the relative frequency of using these substances established in our study is consistent with the results of prior studies in Europe and in the US, which collected information on use during the past six months (Feaster et al, 2016;Schmidt et al, 2016). One notable exception is cannabis, which was relatively more common in these studies than in ours.…”

“…The available literature suggests that patterns of drug use among MSM differ from men who report sex with women only (Feaster et al, 2016;Hunter et al, 2014;Lhomond, Saurel-Cubizolles, Michaels, & CSF Group, 2014;Wohl et al, 2008).…”

“…Moreover, the evidence also suggests that particular MSM populations may also be more likely to use drugs associated with visiting clubs or venues (e.g. cocaine, ecstasy, γ-hydroxybutyrate -GHB/ γ-butyrolactone -GBL, hallucinogens, methamphetamines) (Feaster et al, 2016;Wohl et al, 2008) and less likely to inject opiates (Feaster et al, 2016).…”

The effectiveness of peer education interventions on HIV- and HBV-preventive behaviours in women with substance-related disorders: a cluster randomised control trial

“…The results show that the amount of drug and alcohol use before sexual intercourse and the number of sex acts under the influence of drugs and alcohol in the intervention group significantly declined compared to the control group (Tables 2 and 3). Many studies have shown that SRDs, by disrupting the power of judgment and inhibitive behaviour, lead to increasing involvement in high-risk behaviours, especially high-risk sexual behaviours [10,13,15,[37][38][39], particularly if the substance use occurs immediately before the sexual activity [11]. As a result, improving these consequences is important because this reduction can play a great role in preventing high-risk sexual intercourse, thus preventing HIV and HBV infection [40].…”

Risky Sexual Behaviors and Condom Use Barriers in Women with Substance Use Disorders, Iran

“…Being under the influence of substances can alter judgment and inhibitory behaviors, resulting in involvement in risky and impulsive behaviors, particularly RSBs such as reduced or no condom use, increased number of sexual partners, using drugs at the time of sexual encounters, sex with high-risk sexual partners, and also exchanging sex for drugs or money (16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26).…”