Amphetamine Use and Sexual Risk Among Men Who Have Sex With Men: Results From the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance Study—New York City

Abstract

A 2004–2005 survey among 503 men who have sex with men who attend public venues in New York City was used to examine the relationship of amphetamine use with sexual risk behaviors. Among the men recruited, 51.1% were under 30 years of age, 27.4% were Latino, and 23.3% were African American. Most identified as either gay (78.9%) or bisexual (18.1%). A standardized questionnaire collected data on demographics, sexual risk behaviors, drug and alcohol use, history of HIV testing, and occurrences of sexually transmitted infections. Amphetamine use in the past year was reported by 13.8%. Of those, 71.0% used amphetamines with sex. Amphetamine use was associated with unprotected receptive anal intercourse with non-main partners. In event-specific analysis, amphetamine use was higher with unprotected encounters compared with protected encounters. This study confirms the association between amphetamine use and sexual risk furthers our understanding of risky circumstances and lays the groundwork for the design of interventions.

Keywords:

• amphetamine
• men who have sex with men
• sexual risk behaviors

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a contract to the New York Blood Center from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (contract no. 04AS19400R0X00) and by a cooperative agreement between the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U62/CCU2233595-02-3).

The authors thank the NYC-NHBS staff (Christine Borges, Juan Carlos Guerrero, Joshua Hinkson, Kerri O'Meally, Kenny Torres, Alex Nemirovsky, Terrance Precord) for their work and devotion in conducting this study, Vincent Guilin for his assistance, Michael Marco for his helpful comments on this article, the Project ACHIEVE Community Advisory Board for their advice and contributions, and the study participants who gave their time and effort.

Notes

^a Venue of recruitment, cocaine use, downer use, ecstasy use, amyl nitrite use and Viagra/Levitra use.

^b Venue of recruitment, cocaine use with sex, ecstasy use with sex, marijuana use with sex, amyl nitrite use with sex.

^c Venue of recruitment, education, sexual identity, cocaine use, downer use, ecstasy use, GHB/ketamine use, marijuana use, amyl nitrite use, Viagra/Levitra use.

^d Venue of recruitment, education, sexual identity, cocaine use with sex, downer use with sex, marijuana use with sex, amyl nitrite use with sex.

^e Age, living situation, sexual identity, cocaine use, downer use, ecstasy use, GHB/ketamine use, marijuana use, amyl nitrite use, Viagra/Levitra use.

^f Age, living situation, sexual identity, cocaine use with sex, downer use with sex, ecstasy use with sex, GHB/ketamine use with sex, marijuana use with sex, amyl nitrite use with sex.

^g Age, cocaine use, ecstasy use, GHB/ketamine use, amyl nitrite use, Viagra/Levitra use.

^h Age, cocaine use with sex, ecstasy use with sex, GHB/ketamine use with sex, marijuana use with sex, amyl nitrite use with sex.

ⁱ Venue of recruitment, downer use, ecstasy use, marijuana use, amyl nitrite use.

^j Venue of recruitment, ecstasy use with sex, GHB/ketamine use with sex, amyl nitrite use with sex.

^k Venue of recruitment, cocaine use, downer use, ecstasy use, marijuana use, amyl nitrite use.

^l Venue of recruitment, cocaine use with sex, ecstasy use with sex, GHB/ketamine use with sex, amyl nitrite use with sex.

* p < 0.05;

**p < 0.01.