Loading…

Use of crystal methamphetamine among gay men in London

ABSTRACT Aim  To examine the use of crystal methamphetamine (crystal meth) and its association with high‐risk sexual behaviour among gay men in London.   Design  Cross‐sectional surveys using self‐administered questionnaires. Settings  National Health Service (NHS) out‐patient human immunodeficiency...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Addiction (Abingdon, England) England), 2006-11, Vol.101 (11), p.1622-1630
Main Authors: Bolding, Graham, Hart, Graham, Sherr, Lorraine, Elford, Jonathan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:ABSTRACT Aim  To examine the use of crystal methamphetamine (crystal meth) and its association with high‐risk sexual behaviour among gay men in London.   Design  Cross‐sectional surveys using self‐administered questionnaires. Settings  National Health Service (NHS) out‐patient human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) treatment clinic in London; NHS HIV testing/sexual health clinics in London; central London gyms.  Participants  HIV‐positive gay men attending the HIV treatment clinic in 2002–03 (n = 388); HIV‐negative gay men attending the HIV testing/sexual health clinics in 2002–03 (n = 266); gay men using the gyms between January and March 2003 (n = 445), 2004 (n = 653) and 2005 (n = 494). Measurements  Percentage of gay men who reported: (i) using crystal meth in the previous 12 months; (ii) using other recreational drugs (e.g. cocaine, ecstasy, ketamine); (iii) high‐risk sexual behaviour in the previous 3 months. Findings  The percentage of gay men who had used crystal meth in the previous year varied by sample (HIV treatment clinic, 12.6%; HIV testing/sexual health clinics, 8.3%; gyms, 19.5%; P  80%) had taken other recreational drugs. Crystal meth and other drug users were more likely to report high‐risk sexual behaviour than other men, e.g. HIV treatment clinic sample: crystal meth users, 34.7%; other drug users, 18.9%, non‐users, 10.6%, P 
ISSN:0965-2140
1360-0443
DOI:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2006.01571.x