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Drug use strongly associated with sex, condomless sex and STIs in gay men living with HIV in England
Gus Cairns, 2014-09-16 10:00:00
A large survey of gay and bisexual men living with HIV and attending eight sexual health clinics in England has found that half of them had used recreational drugs in the last three months and 14% had used more than three drugs.
The ASTRA (Antiretrovirals, Sexual Transmission Risk and Attitudes) study was conducted in sexual health clinics in central, north and east London, Sussex and Manchester in 2011 and 2012. All clinic attendees living with HIV had a viral load test and screening for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and were asked to fill out a behavioural questionnaire: 64% of them (2248 men) completed it. Of these, 69% were men who had sex with men (MSM), most of whom defined as gay.
The 2248 men formed an ageing group: the median age was 46, 11% were over 50 and only 5% were under 30. The median time since their HIV diagnosis was ten years, 85% were on antiretroviral therapy (ART) and 73% had a viral load under 50 copies/ml at their most recent test.
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