title: Associations Between Drug and Alcohol Use Patterns and Sexual Risk in a Sample of African American Men Who Have Sex with Men.
abstract: Men who have sex with men (MSM) are the largest risk group in the US HIV epidemic and African American MSM (AA MSM) are disproportionately affected. Substance-abusing sexual minorities warrant attention as they are at elevated risk for HIV, yet are not a homogeneous risk group. The purpose of this study was to use latent class analysis to identify patterns of drug and alcohol use in a sample of 359 AA MSM and examine associations with sexual risk. Three classes were identified: Individuals who used multiple substances (poly-users) (18 %), alcohol/marijuana users (33 %) and individuals who had low probability of reporting drug or problematic alcohol use (50 %). Results from multivariate analysis indicate that poly-users were older and more likely to report sex exchange and recent sexually transmitted infection compared to the other classes. Alcohol and poly-users were more likely to report sex under the influence. Identifying and defining substance use patterns can improve specification of risk groups and allocation of prevention resources.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, 2213 McElderry Street, Second Floor, Baltimore, MD, USA. ktobin@jhsph.edu.
authors.forename: Karin E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Tobin
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, 2213 McElderry Street, Second Floor, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Cui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, 2213 McElderry Street, Second Floor, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Kelly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: King
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, 2213 McElderry Street, Second Floor, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Carl A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Latkin
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Frank C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Curriero
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000208:ethnology*; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research; D017280:Condoms / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012944:Social Support; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology
keywords: African American MSM; Alcohol use; Latent class analysis; Sexual risk behaviors