The association between use of chemsex drugs and HIV clinic attendance among gay and bisexual men living with HIV in London

A. R. Howarth; V. Apea; S. Michie; S. Morris; M. Sachikonye; C. H. Mercer; A. Evans; V. C. Delpech; C. Sabin; F. M. Burns

doi:10.1111/hiv.13103

The association between use of chemsex drugs and HIV clinic attendance among gay and bisexual men living with HIV in London

A. R. Howarth^*, V. Apea, S. Michie, S. Morris, M. Sachikonye, C. H. Mercer, A. Evans, V. C. Delpech, C. Sabin, F. M. Burns

^*Corresponding author for this work

HIV & Aids Reporting

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

214 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the association between chemsex drug use and HIV clinic attendance among gay and bisexual men in London.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of adults (> 18 years) diagnosed with HIV for > 4 months, attending seven London HIV clinics (May 2014 to August 2015). Participants self-completed an anonymous questionnaire linked to clinical data. Sub-optimal clinic attenders had missed one or more HIV clinic appointments in the past year, or had a history of non-attendance for > 1 year.

Results: Over half (56%) of the 570 men who identified as gay or bisexual reported taking recreational drugs in the past 5 years and 71.5% of these men had used chemsex drugs in the past year. Among men reporting chemsex drug use (past year), 32.1% had injected any drugs in the past year. Sub-optimal clinic attenders were more likely than regular attenders to report chemsex drug use (past year; 46.9% vs. 33.2%, P = 0.001), injecting any drugs (past year; 17.1% vs. 8.9%, P = 0.011) and recreational drug use (past 5 years; 65.5% vs. 48.8%, P < 0.001). One in five sub-optimal attenders had missed an HIV clinic appointment because of taking recreational drugs (17.4% vs. 1.8%, P < 0.001). In multivariable logistic regression, chemsex drug use was significantly associated with sub-optimal clinic attendance (adjusted odds ratio = 1.71, 95% confidence interval: 1.10–2.65, P = 0.02).

Conclusions: Our findings highlight the importance of systematic assessment of drug use and development of tools to aid routine assessment. We suggest that chemsex drug use should be addressed when developing interventions to improve engagement in HIV care among gay and bisexual men.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	641-649
Number of pages	9
Journal	HIV Medicine
Volume	22
Issue number	8
Early online date	5 May 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/hiv.13103
Publication status	Published - Sept 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information: This study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Services and Delivery Research programme (project no. 11/2004/50). The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.

Conflict of interest: The authors declare there are no competing interests.

Open Access: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in
any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors. HIV Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British HIV Association.

Citation: Howarth, A.R., Apea, V., Michie, S., Morris, S., Sachikonye, M., Mercer, C.H., Evans, A., Delpech, V.C., Sabin, C. and Burns, F.M. The association between use of chemsex drugs and HIV clinic attendance among gay and bisexual men living with HIV in London. HIV Medicine. 2021; 22: 641– 649.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/hiv.13103

Keywords

HIV
chemsex
gay men
patient engagement
recreational drugs

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1111/hiv.13103Licence: CC BY

Howarth2021TheAssociationBetweenUseOfChemsexDrugsAndHIVClinicAttendanceHIVMedFinal published version, 932 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{77bb62f531e446a3815aac7d209dc16f,

title = "The association between use of chemsex drugs and HIV clinic attendance among gay and bisexual men living with HIV in London",

abstract = "Objectives: To investigate the association between chemsex drug use and HIV clinic attendance among gay and bisexual men in London. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of adults (> 18 years) diagnosed with HIV for > 4 months, attending seven London HIV clinics (May 2014 to August 2015). Participants self-completed an anonymous questionnaire linked to clinical data. Sub-optimal clinic attenders had missed one or more HIV clinic appointments in the past year, or had a history of non-attendance for > 1 year. Results: Over half (56%) of the 570 men who identified as gay or bisexual reported taking recreational drugs in the past 5 years and 71.5% of these men had used chemsex drugs in the past year. Among men reporting chemsex drug use (past year), 32.1% had injected any drugs in the past year. Sub-optimal clinic attenders were more likely than regular attenders to report chemsex drug use (past year; 46.9% vs. 33.2%, P = 0.001), injecting any drugs (past year; 17.1% vs. 8.9%, P = 0.011) and recreational drug use (past 5 years; 65.5% vs. 48.8%, P < 0.001). One in five sub-optimal attenders had missed an HIV clinic appointment because of taking recreational drugs (17.4% vs. 1.8%, P < 0.001). In multivariable logistic regression, chemsex drug use was significantly associated with sub-optimal clinic attendance (adjusted odds ratio = 1.71, 95% confidence interval: 1.10–2.65, P = 0.02). Conclusions: Our findings highlight the importance of systematic assessment of drug use and development of tools to aid routine assessment. We suggest that chemsex drug use should be addressed when developing interventions to improve engagement in HIV care among gay and bisexual men.",

keywords = "HIV, chemsex, gay men, patient engagement, recreational drugs",

author = "Howarth, {A. R.} and V. Apea and S. Michie and S. Morris and M. Sachikonye and Mercer, {C. H.} and A. Evans and Delpech, {V. C.} and C. Sabin and Burns, {F. M.}",

note = "Funding Information: This study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Services and Delivery Research programme (project no. 11/2004/50). The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care. Conflict of interest: The authors declare there are no competing interests. Open Access: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 The Authors. HIV Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British HIV Association. Citation: Howarth, A.R., Apea, V., Michie, S., Morris, S., Sachikonye, M., Mercer, C.H., Evans, A., Delpech, V.C., Sabin, C. and Burns, F.M. The association between use of chemsex drugs and HIV clinic attendance among gay and bisexual men living with HIV in London. HIV Medicine. 2021; 22: 641– 649. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/hiv.13103 ",

year = "2021",

month = sep,

doi = "10.1111/hiv.13103",

language = "English",

volume = "22",

pages = "641--649",

journal = "HIV Medicine",

issn = "1464-2662",

publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd",

number = "8",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - The association between use of chemsex drugs and HIV clinic attendance among gay and bisexual men living with HIV in London

AU - Howarth, A. R.

AU - Apea, V.

AU - Michie, S.

AU - Morris, S.

AU - Sachikonye, M.

AU - Mercer, C. H.

AU - Evans, A.

AU - Delpech, V. C.

AU - Sabin, C.

AU - Burns, F. M.

N1 - Funding Information: This study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Services and Delivery Research programme (project no. 11/2004/50). The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care. Conflict of interest: The authors declare there are no competing interests. Open Access: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors. HIV Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British HIV Association. Citation: Howarth, A.R., Apea, V., Michie, S., Morris, S., Sachikonye, M., Mercer, C.H., Evans, A., Delpech, V.C., Sabin, C. and Burns, F.M. The association between use of chemsex drugs and HIV clinic attendance among gay and bisexual men living with HIV in London. HIV Medicine. 2021; 22: 641– 649. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/hiv.13103

PY - 2021/9

Y1 - 2021/9

N2 - Objectives: To investigate the association between chemsex drug use and HIV clinic attendance among gay and bisexual men in London. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of adults (> 18 years) diagnosed with HIV for > 4 months, attending seven London HIV clinics (May 2014 to August 2015). Participants self-completed an anonymous questionnaire linked to clinical data. Sub-optimal clinic attenders had missed one or more HIV clinic appointments in the past year, or had a history of non-attendance for > 1 year. Results: Over half (56%) of the 570 men who identified as gay or bisexual reported taking recreational drugs in the past 5 years and 71.5% of these men had used chemsex drugs in the past year. Among men reporting chemsex drug use (past year), 32.1% had injected any drugs in the past year. Sub-optimal clinic attenders were more likely than regular attenders to report chemsex drug use (past year; 46.9% vs. 33.2%, P = 0.001), injecting any drugs (past year; 17.1% vs. 8.9%, P = 0.011) and recreational drug use (past 5 years; 65.5% vs. 48.8%, P < 0.001). One in five sub-optimal attenders had missed an HIV clinic appointment because of taking recreational drugs (17.4% vs. 1.8%, P < 0.001). In multivariable logistic regression, chemsex drug use was significantly associated with sub-optimal clinic attendance (adjusted odds ratio = 1.71, 95% confidence interval: 1.10–2.65, P = 0.02). Conclusions: Our findings highlight the importance of systematic assessment of drug use and development of tools to aid routine assessment. We suggest that chemsex drug use should be addressed when developing interventions to improve engagement in HIV care among gay and bisexual men.

AB - Objectives: To investigate the association between chemsex drug use and HIV clinic attendance among gay and bisexual men in London. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of adults (> 18 years) diagnosed with HIV for > 4 months, attending seven London HIV clinics (May 2014 to August 2015). Participants self-completed an anonymous questionnaire linked to clinical data. Sub-optimal clinic attenders had missed one or more HIV clinic appointments in the past year, or had a history of non-attendance for > 1 year. Results: Over half (56%) of the 570 men who identified as gay or bisexual reported taking recreational drugs in the past 5 years and 71.5% of these men had used chemsex drugs in the past year. Among men reporting chemsex drug use (past year), 32.1% had injected any drugs in the past year. Sub-optimal clinic attenders were more likely than regular attenders to report chemsex drug use (past year; 46.9% vs. 33.2%, P = 0.001), injecting any drugs (past year; 17.1% vs. 8.9%, P = 0.011) and recreational drug use (past 5 years; 65.5% vs. 48.8%, P < 0.001). One in five sub-optimal attenders had missed an HIV clinic appointment because of taking recreational drugs (17.4% vs. 1.8%, P < 0.001). In multivariable logistic regression, chemsex drug use was significantly associated with sub-optimal clinic attendance (adjusted odds ratio = 1.71, 95% confidence interval: 1.10–2.65, P = 0.02). Conclusions: Our findings highlight the importance of systematic assessment of drug use and development of tools to aid routine assessment. We suggest that chemsex drug use should be addressed when developing interventions to improve engagement in HIV care among gay and bisexual men.

KW - HIV

KW - chemsex

KW - gay men

KW - patient engagement

KW - recreational drugs

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85105097741&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/hiv.13103

DO - 10.1111/hiv.13103

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85105097741

SN - 1464-2662

VL - 22

SP - 641

EP - 649

JO - HIV Medicine

JF - HIV Medicine

IS - 8

ER -

The association between use of chemsex drugs and HIV clinic attendance among gay and bisexual men living with HIV in London

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this