HIV Risk Behaviors of Gay and Bisexual Male Methamphetamine Users Contacted through Street Outreach

• Published in: Journal of drug issues 1999, Vol.29 (1), p.155-166
• Main Authors: Reback, Cathy J., Grella, Christine E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abuse; Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome; Bisexuality; California; Drug Abuse; Drug use; Gays & lesbians; HIV; Homosexuality; Homosexuals; Human immunodeficiency virus; Injections; Males; Men; Methamphetamine; Outreach programmes; Outreach Programs; Relationship; Risk; Risk behaviour; Self Destructive Behavior; sexual behavior; USA; USA, California, Los Angeles, Hollywood
• ISSN: 0022-0426; 1945-1369
• DOI: 10.1177/002204269902900110

This paper describes the characteristics of 908 gay and bisexual male drug users contacted over a 12-month period through a street outreach HIV risk-reduction program in Hollywood, California. Over one-third (37 percent) of the contacted individuals reported using methamphetamine in the previous 30 days; over half of these (58 percent) reported injection drug use. Compared with the non-methamphetamine users, the methamphetamine users were more likely to be white, to engage in sex work, to inject drugs, and to have sex partners who injected drugs. The methamphetamine users were also less likely to have used condoms when engaged in high-risk sexual behavior and were more likely to have used other drugs within the previous 30 days than the non-users. Methamphetamine use among gay and bisexual males compounds risk for HIV, and risk-reduction interventions to this population should address both high-risk drug and sexual behaviors within the broader context of gay male communities.