ID: HR19-761

Presenting author: Adam Bourne

Presenting author biography:

Adam Bourne is Associate Professor of Public Health at the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health & Society at La Trobe University, Melbourne. His research focuses on drug and alcohol use among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender populations.

Prevalence of drug use and uptake of harm reduction services among gay and bisexual men in Australia

Adam Bourne, Mo Hammoud, Colin Batrouney, Nicky Bath, Garrett Prestage

BACKGROUND

A significantly higher proportion of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBM) in Australia use illicit drugs compared to their heterosexual counterparts. However, many traditional alcohol and other drug (AOD) services are unfamiliar with the drug use patterns of GBM and little literature has documented whether and where men seek help to manage their drug use

METHODS

The Following Lives Undergoing Change (Flux) Study is a national, online prospective observational cohort investigating drug use among Australian GBM recruited via social networking and gay community sites. Between September 2014 and July 2015, a total of 2177 men provided useable baseline data on their use of AOD services.

RESULTS

A third (34.1%) of GBM had used a party drug (ecstasy, speed, cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, GHB, ketamine or LSD) within the previous 6 months. A further third of these men (33.9%) had used party drugs to have sex in the previous 6 months, although most had only done so on a few occasions.

One in seven (15.7%) of all GBM considered their drug use to be problematic. Those who perceived their use of drugs as problematic reported they would feel more comfortable engaging with doctors or psychologists/counsellors rather than 12-step programs, detox or methadone clinics. Less than half (42.9%) of those who considered their use problematic had used AOD services, and those who had were more likely to be HIV positive (aOR 1.89, 95%CI 1.13-3.09) and scored higher on a measure of depression (aOR 1.08, 95%CI 1.05-1.11).

CONCLUSION

While both drug use generally and self-perceived problematic drug use is high among Australian GBM, few had accessed traditional AOD services. Sexual health clinics and gay organisations could play a key role in provision of harm reduction, treatment and support interventions for this population.