Associations of injection drug use and intention to change drug use and alcohol consumption among methamphetamine using men who have sex with men
Abstract
Objective: No literature pertaining to the associations with injection drug use or the intention to use drugs in men who have sex with men exists in substance use research. Therefore, the purpose of this analysis was to identify variables associated with injection drug use and intention to use drugs and consume consume alcohol in the next 30 days among methamphetamine using men who have sex with men. Methods: In 2012, methamphetamine using men who have sex with men (n= 343) were recruited into an online study. Participants took an online survey, which included items related to drug use, injection drug use, sociodemographic varibles, psychosocial variables, and variables specific to men who have sex with men. Results: 258 (75.22%) participants injected drugs in the last 30 days compared to 85 (24.78%) who did not inject any type of drug in the last 30 days. Overall, participants were between the age of 25 and 34 years old (68.22%), identified as a person of color (52.19% identified as Black, Hispanic, American Indian or Alaskan, and Asian) and were in a relationship (73.47%). Participants were employed (86.59%), home owners (51.02%), and earned an income of more than $40,000 per year (75.51%). Participants who intended to use drugs and drink alcohol more often in the next 30 days were White (OR= 3.51, 95% CI: 2.01- 6.54), reported a high degree of self-efficacy in drug use (OR= 2.72, 95% CI: 1.73- 4.26), and less likely to report internalized homonegativity (OR=0.58, 95% CI: 0.35- 0.94) and expressed a high degree of outness (OR=1.37, 95% CI: 1.00- 1.94). Conclusion: Overall, study participants intended to use drugs and consume alcohol more often in the next 30 days; however, intentions did not differ significantly among injection drug users when asked to consider future drug use and alcohol consumption. Results from this study present a group of high income, employed, home owning, and internally homopositive methamphetamine using men who have sex with men who use drugs thus health programs, policies, and education should not be solely centered around adverse outcomes like violence, crime, suicide, overdose, or death.
Subject Area
Public health
Recommended Citation
Driver, Diana Kaitlin, "Associations of injection drug use and intention to change drug use and alcohol consumption among methamphetamine using men who have sex with men" (2016). Texas Medical Center Dissertations (via ProQuest). AAI10247557.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/dissertations/AAI10247557