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Biomedical HIV Protection Among Gay and Bisexual Men Who Use Crystal Methamphetamine

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Abstract

Use of crystal methamphetamine (crystal) among gay and bisexual men (GBM) has been associated with condomless anal intercourse with casual partners (CLAIC) and HIV infection. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and undetectable viral load (UVL) are important biomedical HIV prevention strategies. We investigate the relationship between crystal use and HIV sexual risk behaviours in the context of PrEP and UVL. In 2018, 1367 GBM provided details about crystal use and HIV prevention strategies. Binary logistic regression was used to estimate associations between crystal use and behaviour. Recent crystal use was independently associated with greater social engagement with gay men and having more sexual partners. Crystal use was also independently associated with use of PrEP and UVL among GBM who engaged in CLAIC. Although GBM who used crystal were more likely to have engaged in CLAIC, they were also more likely to use biomedical HIV prevention which mitigates against the risks of HIV infection.

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Acknowledgements

The study team would like to thank all participants for their continued participation in the Flux Study.

Funding

This work was funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC). ARC grant number: DP140102483. The Kirby Institute receive funding from the Australian Government Department of Health. Lisa Maher is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Senior Research Fellowship. Peter Saxton was supported by a New Zealand AIDS Foundation Fellowship. Toby Lea is supported by an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Fellowship. In 2018, this study was partly funded by the Gilead Australia Fellowship: Research Grants Program. Funders had no input in the data collection, analysis, interpretation, or presentation of any findings.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. HIV Epidemiology and Prevention Program, Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, Level 6, Wallace Wurth Building, Kensington, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Mohamed A. Hammoud, Fengyi Jin, Stefanie Vaccher & Garrett Prestage

  2. Viral Hepatitis Epidemiology and Prevention Program, Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, Level 6, Wallace Wurth Building, Kensington, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Lisa Maher

  3. Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Building NR6, Bundoora, VIC, 3086, Australia

    Adam Bourne

  4. Public Health Interventions Research Group, Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, Level 6, Wallace Wurth Building, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Bridget Haire

  5. Department of Social and Community Health, School of Population Health, University of Auckland, Building 730, Tamaki Campus, 261 Morrin Road, St Johns, Auckland, 1072, New Zealand

    Peter Saxton

  6. German Institute for Addiction and Prevention Research, Catholic University of Applied Sciences, Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer 79-81, 50668, Cologne, Germany

    Toby Lea

  7. Centre for Social Research in Health, UNSW Sydney, John Goodsell Building, UNSW, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Toby Lea

  8. National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW Sydney, 22 – 32 King Street, Randwick, NSW, 2031, Australia

    Louisa Degenhardt

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  1. Mohamed A. Hammoud
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  10. Garrett Prestage
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Mohamed A. Hammoud. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Mohamed A. Hammoud and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Mohamed A. Hammoud.

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Hammoud, M.A., Jin, F., Maher, L. et al. Biomedical HIV Protection Among Gay and Bisexual Men Who Use Crystal Methamphetamine. AIDS Behav 24, 1400–1413 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-019-02739-7

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