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Alcohol and Drug Use Surrounding Sex Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in India

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Abstract

Little is known about alcohol and drug use with sex among Indian men who have sex with men (MSM). Sexually active MSM across India, recruited via social media and MSM-specific mobile dating apps, completed an anonymous online survey in Hindi or English. We used multivariable modified Poisson regression to identify factors associated with (1) Alcohol use and (2) Drug use ± alcohol (chemsex) surrounding sex. Of the 4321 MSM included in this analysis, respondents came from all states and over 400 localities; median age was 26 years, 15 % lived in poverty, and 18 % had less than college education. Overall, 23 % (996) reported using alcohol whereas 5 % (226) reported having chemsex. In multivariable analysis, alcohol use was associated (p < .05) with lower education, older age, being ‘out’ to anyone about their sexuality, having a paid or casual male partner, being in a committed relationship with a female partner, and having > 6 sexual partners in the past six months. Chemsex was associated with lower education, being ‘out’ to anyone, having > 6 sexual partners in the past six months, having casual male partners, living with HIV, and having a STI diagnosis in the past year. This study found that alcohol use surrounding sex was more common than chemsex among a large national sample of Indian MSM. Differing characteristics were associated with either alcohol use or chemsex, which may be related to cultural and contextual factors. These findings indicate a need to further assess what impact alcohol and drug use surrounding sex may have on sexual risk behaviors, and what interventions are needed to mitigate such risks.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the participants for their time, and to thank Alpana Dange, Vivek Anand, Nataly Rios, Christopher Pina, and Maria Zlotorzynska for their support.

Funding

This study was supported in part by the Einstein-Rockefeller-CUNY Centers for AIDS Research (NIH P30AI051519) and the Emory University Center for AIDS Research (NIH P30AI050409). Dr. Brianna Norton was supported by K23DA039060 and Dr. Viraj Patel was supported by K23MH102118 and R01MH119001.

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  1. Viraj V. Patel

    Present address: Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 3300 Kossuth Ave, Bronx, NY, 10467, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, USA

    Yash Bhambhani

  2. The Humsafar Trust, Mumbai, India

    Shruta Rawat

  3. Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 3300 Kossuth Ave, Bronx, NY, 10467, USA

    Brianna L. Norton

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  1. Yash Bhambhani
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Correspondence to Yash Bhambhani.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Human subjects research review boards at The Humsafar Trust (an LGBTQ community-based organization in Mumbai, India) and Albert Einstein College of Medicine (Bronx, United States) approved the study. This study was approved by the institutional review boards of Albert Einstein College of Medicine (Bronx, USA) and the Humsafar Trust (Mumbai, India).

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Bhambhani, Y., Rawat, S., Norton, B.L. et al. Alcohol and Drug Use Surrounding Sex Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in India. Sexuality & Culture 25, 1383–1396 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-021-09814-z

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