Binge Drinking, Non-injection Drug Use, and Sexual Risk Behaviors among Adolescent Sexual Minority Males, 3 US Cities, 2015

AbstractIn 2016, more than 90% of HIV diagnoses among young men aged 13 –19 years were attributed to male-male sexual contact. Little is known about how binge drinking and non-injection drug use may be associated with risky sexual behavior among adolescent sexual minority males (ASMM). Using data from the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance, we examined how binge dr inking and non-injection drug use may be associated with sexual risk among ASMM. ASMM were recruited for interviews in 3 cities: Chicago, New York City, and Philadelphia. Among 16–18-year-olds (N = 488), we evaluated the association between binge drinking (≥ 5 drinks in one sitting in the past 30 days), non-injection drug use (past 12-month use of methamphetamines, powder cocaine, downers, painkillers, ecstasy, poppers, and “other”), and two past 12-month sexual risk outcomes: condomless anal intercourse with a casual partner and having multiple sex partners. We used log-linked Poisson regression models with robust standard errors to estimate prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Overall, 26% of 16–18-year-old ASMM binge drank, and 21% reported non-i njection drug use. Among ASMM who binge drank, 34% reported condomless anal intercourse with a casual partner compared with 22% of those who did not (PR: 1.53, 95% CI: 1.04–2.26). Similarly, 84% of ASMM who binge drank reported having multiple partners compared with 61% of those who did not (PR: 1 .38, 95% CI: 1.09–1.76). A...
Source: Journal of Urban Health - Category: Health Management Source Type: research