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Associations Between Drug and Alcohol Use Patterns and Sexual Risk in a Sample of African American Men Who Have Sex with Men

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Abstract

Men who have sex with men (MSM) are the largest risk group in the US HIV epidemic and African American MSM (AA MSM) are disproportionately affected. Substance-abusing sexual minorities warrant attention as they are at elevated risk for HIV, yet are not a homogeneous risk group. The purpose of this study was to use latent class analysis to identify patterns of drug and alcohol use in a sample of 359 AA MSM and examine associations with sexual risk. Three classes were identified: Individuals who used multiple substances (poly-users) (18 %), alcohol/marijuana users (33 %) and individuals who had low probability of reporting drug or problematic alcohol use (50 %). Results from multivariate analysis indicate that poly-users were older and more likely to report sex exchange and recent sexually transmitted infection compared to the other classes. Alcohol and poly-users were more likely to report sex under the influence. Identifying and defining substance use patterns can improve specification of risk groups and allocation of prevention resources.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (1R03DA035696) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (R00AA020782). The authors thank Sharif Braxton for his assistance with references and manuscript preparation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, 2213 McElderry Street, Second Floor, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Karin E. Tobin, Cui Yang, Kelly King & Carl A. Latkin

  2. Department of Epidemiology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Frank C. Curriero

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  1. Karin E. Tobin
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  2. Cui Yang
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Correspondence to Karin E. Tobin.

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This work is not being considered elsewhere for publication, nor has it been previously published. This manuscript has been read and approved by all the authors.

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Tobin, K.E., Yang, C., King, K. et al. Associations Between Drug and Alcohol Use Patterns and Sexual Risk in a Sample of African American Men Who Have Sex with Men. AIDS Behav 20, 590–599 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-015-1214-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-015-1214-8

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