Club Drugs and HIV/STD Infection: An Exploratory Analysis among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Changsha, China

Xi Chen; Xingli Li; Jun Zheng; Junshi Zhao; Jianmei He; Guoqiang Zhang; Xuemin Tang

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0126320

Club Drugs and HIV/STD Infection: An Exploratory Analysis among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Changsha, China

PLoS One. 2015 May 7;10(5):e0126320. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0126320. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Xi Chen¹, Xingli Li², Jun Zheng¹, Junshi Zhao¹, Jianmei He¹, Guoqiang Zhang¹, Xuemin Tang²

Affiliations

¹ Department of AIDS/STI Control and Prevention, Hunan Provincial Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Changsha, China.
² School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha, China.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate current club drug use and its potential association with the transmission of HIV/STD among Changsha men who have sex with men (MSM).

Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted by using self-administered questionnaires including information regarding socio-demographics, club drug use, high-risk behaviors, and HIV/STD infections. Multiple methods including venue-based, peer referral using "snowball" techniques, and internet advertisements were used to recruit study participants.

Results: Of the 826 participants, 177 (21.4%) reported that they had used club drugs at some time before or during sex in the past six months. MSM with young age, low education level, and seeking partners through the internet or bars were the main population who used drugs. Poppers were the most common drug used among Changsha MSM. The prevalence of HIV, syphilis, and herpes simplex virus-2 were higher among drug users. There were no significant differences in unprotected sexual intercourse and condom use between drug users and non-users. Compared with non-users, risk behaviors such as group sex, multiple sex partners, and sex with foreigners were more frequent among drug users.

Conclusion: Club drug use is common among Changsha MSM, and is related to unsafe sex activities and HIV/STD infection. It is necessary to build novel targeted HIV prevention strategies to monitor and reduce club drug use among MSM.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

China
HIV Infections / transmission*
Homosexuality, Male*
Humans
Illicit Drugs*
Male
Risk Factors
Sexually Transmitted Diseases / transmission*

Substances

Illicit Drugs

Grants and funding

This work funded by the Natural Science Foundation of China(NO.81202257) and National Science and Technology Major Project of China (NO:2012ZX10001-001)and Foundation of Central South University for Outstanding Young Teachers (No. 2013JSJJ032). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.