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Changes in Stimulant Drug Use Over Time in the MACS: Evidence for Resilience Against Stimulant Drug Use Among Men Who Have Sex with Men

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Abstract

Stimulant drug use is associated with numerous health problems among men who have sex with men (MSM). This paper describes how stimulant drug use changes over a four and one-half year period from 2003 until 2008. Participants were 2,389 men (17,222 person-visits) from The Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS)—an ongoing, prospective study of HIV infection among MSM. Group-based trajectory analyses of data from these men over the study period yielded a four groups solution: consistent users (9.8%), men whose use increased (5.4%), men whose use declined (6.9%), and abstinent or rarely-using men (77.9%). There were significant differences between groups in terms of demographic, behavioral risk and HIV serostatus. Men who increased or decreased stimulant drug use over time reported congruent changes in sexual risk taking. The fact that sexual risk levels parallel stimulant drug use over time suggests that finding ways to lower rates of stimulant drug use among MSM could be a tool in HIV prevention.

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Acknowledgments

Support for this study was provided by National Institute of Drug Abuse grant R01 DA022936. We would also sincerely like to thank the men who have participated in the MACS since its inception for their immense contribution to HIV research. This article is dedicated to the memory of Keith Bussy, a man whose tireless advocacy for HIV infected men improved the lives of countless people. His dedication and constant smile were an inspiration to all who knew him.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Sin How Lim, Ron Stall & Amy Herrick

  2. Ogburn-Stouffer Center for Social Organization Research at the National Opinion, Research Center, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    David Ostrow

  3. Department of Preventive Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA

    Joan Chmiel

  4. Department of Family Medicine and Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Steve Shoptaw

  5. Department of Family Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Uyen Kao

  6. Department of Medicine, Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Adam Carrico

  7. Department of Medicine, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA

    Michael Plankey

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  1. Sin How Lim
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  2. David Ostrow
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  3. Ron Stall
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  4. Joan Chmiel
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  5. Amy Herrick
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  6. Steve Shoptaw
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  7. Uyen Kao
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  8. Adam Carrico
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  9. Michael Plankey
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Correspondence to Ron Stall.

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Lim, S.H., Ostrow, D., Stall, R. et al. Changes in Stimulant Drug Use Over Time in the MACS: Evidence for Resilience Against Stimulant Drug Use Among Men Who Have Sex with Men. AIDS Behav 16, 151–158 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-010-9866-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-010-9866-x

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