Dataset Information

Assessing the longitudinal stability of latent classes of substance use among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Association between substance use and HIV-risk among gay and bisexual men (GBM) is well documented. However, their substance use patterns are diverse, and it is unknown whether self-reported use patterns are stable over time. METHODS:Sexually-active GBM, aged >16 years, were recruited in Metro Vancouver using respondent-driven sampling and followed across 5 study visits at six-month intervals (n?=?449). To identify distinct patterns of substance use and their longitudinal stability, Latent Transition Analysis (LTA) was conducted for drugs reported by at least 30 participants. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) quantified the stability of class assignments. RESULTS:Six classes characterizing 'limited drug use' (i.e., low use of all drugs, except alcohol), 'conventional drug use' (i.e., use of alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco), 'club drug use' (i.e., use of alcohol, cocaine, and psychedelics), 'sex drug use' (i.e., use of alcohol, crystal meth, GHB, poppers, and erectile dysfunction drugs), 'street drug use' (i.e., use of alcohol and street opioids) and 'assorted drug use' (i.e., use of most drugs) were identified. Across five visits (2.5 years), 26.3% (n?=?118/449) of GBM transitioned between classes. The prevalence of limited use trended upwards (Baseline:24.5%, Visit 5:28.3%, p??0.97). CONCLUSION:The stability of latent substance use patterns highlight the utility of these measures in identifying patterns of substance use among people who use drugs - potentially allowing for better assessment of these groups and interventions related to their health.

SUBMITTER: Card KG

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7583659 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Assessing the longitudinal stability of latent classes of substance use among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men.

Card Kiffer G KG Armstrong Heather L HL Carter Allison A Cui Zishan Z Wang Lu L Zhu Julia J Lachowsky Nathan J NJ Moore David M DM Hogg Robert S RS Roth Eric A EA

Drug and alcohol dependence 20180522

<h4>Background</h4>Association between substance use and HIV-risk among gay and bisexual men (GBM) is well documented. However, their substance use patterns are diverse, and it is unknown whether self-reported use patterns are stable over time.<h4>Methods</h4>Sexually-active GBM, aged >16 years, were recruited in Metro Vancouver using respondent-driven sampling and followed across 5 study visits at six-month intervals (n = 449). To identify distinct patterns of substance use and their longitudin ...[more]

PMID: 29859447

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Gay, bisexual, and other cisgender men who have sex with men (GBMSM) are disproportionately affected by the HIV pandemic. Traditionally, GBMSM have been deemed less relevant in HIV epidemics in low- and middle-income settings where HIV epidemics are more generalized. This is due (in part) to how important population size estimates regarding the number of individuals who identify as GBMSM are to informing the development and monitoring of HIV prevention, treatment, and care programs and coverage. However, pervasive stigma and criminalization of same-sex practices and relationships provide a challenging environment for population enumeration, and these factors have been associated with implausibly low or absent size estimates of GBMSM, thereby limiting knowledge about the dynamics of HIV transmission and the implementation of programs addressing GBMSM. OBJECTIVE:This study leverages estimates of the number of members of a social app geared towards gay men (Hornet) and members of Facebook using self-reported relationship interests in men, men and women, and those with at least one reported same-sex interest. Results were categorized by country of residence to validate official size estimates of GBMSM in 13 countries across five continents. METHODS:Data were collected through the Hornet Gay Social Network and by using an a priori determined framework to estimate the numbers of Facebook members with interests associated with GBMSM in South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Mauritania, The Gambia, Lebanon, Thailand, Malaysia, Brazil, Ukraine, and the United States. These estimates were compared with the most recent Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and national estimates across 143 countries. RESULTS:The estimates that leveraged social media apps for the number of GBMSM across countries are consistently far higher than official UNAIDS estimates. Using Facebook, it is also feasible to assess the numbers of GBMSM aged 13-17 years, which demonstrate similar proportions to those of older men. There is greater consistency in Facebook estimates of GBMSM compared to UNAIDS-reported estimates across countries. CONCLUSIONS:The ability to use social media for epidemiologic and HIV prevention, treatment, and care needs continues to improve. Here, a method leveraging different categories of same-sex interests on Facebook, combined with a specific gay-oriented app (Hornet), demonstrated significantly higher estimates than those officially reported. While there are biases in this approach, these data reinforce the need for multiple methods to be used to count the number of GBMSM (especially in more stigmatizing settings) to better inform mathematical models and the scale of HIV program coverage. Moreover, these estimates can inform programs for those aged 13-17 years; a group for which HIV incidence is the highest and HIV prevention program coverage, including the availability of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), is lowest. Taken together, these results highlight the potential for social media to provide comparable estimates of the number of GBMSM across a large range of countries, including some with no reported estimates.

Dataset Information

Assessing the longitudinal stability of latent classes of substance use among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men.

Publications

Assessing the longitudinal stability of latent classes of substance use among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men.

Similar Datasets

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