Associations Between Drug and Alcohol Use Patterns and Sexual Risk in a Sample of African American Men Who Have Sex with Men
Title | Associations Between Drug and Alcohol Use Patterns and Sexual Risk in a Sample of African American Men Who Have Sex with Men |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2016 |
Authors | Tobin, KE, Yang, C, King, K, Latkin, CA, Curriero, FC |
Journal | AIDS Behav |
Volume | 20 |
Pagination | 590-9 |
Date Published | Mar |
ISBN Number | 1573-3254 (Electronic)1090-7165 (Linking) |
Accession Number | 26558629 |
Keywords | African American MSM, Alcohol use, Latent class analysis, Sexual risk behaviors |
Abstract | Men who have sex with men (MSM) are the largest risk group in the US HIV epidemic and African American MSM (AA MSM) are disproportionately affected. Substance-abusing sexual minorities warrant attention as they are at elevated risk for HIV, yet are not a homogeneous risk group. The purpose of this study was to use latent class analysis to identify patterns of drug and alcohol use in a sample of 359 AA MSM and examine associations with sexual risk. Three classes were identified: Individuals who used multiple substances (poly-users) (18 %), alcohol/marijuana users (33 %) and individuals who had low probability of reporting drug or problematic alcohol use (50 %). Results from multivariate analysis indicate that poly-users were older and more likely to report sex exchange and recent sexually transmitted infection compared to the other classes. Alcohol and poly-users were more likely to report sex under the influence. Identifying and defining substance use patterns can improve specification of risk groups and allocation of prevention resources. |
PMCID | PMC4777693 |