Recreational and sexualised drug use among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM) in Ireland-Findings from the European MSM internet survey (EMIS) 2017

Fionn P Daly; Kate O'Donnell; Martin P Davoren; Chris Noone; Peter Weatherburn; Mick Quinlan; Bill Foley; Fiona Lyons; Derval Igoe; Peter Barrett

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0288171

Recreational and sexualised drug use among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM) in Ireland-Findings from the European MSM internet survey (EMIS) 2017

PLoS One. 2023 Jul 28;18(7):e0288171. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288171. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Fionn P Daly^{1

2}, Kate O'Donnell³, Martin P Davoren^{2

4}, Chris Noone⁵, Peter Weatherburn⁶, Mick Quinlan⁷, Bill Foley⁷, Fiona Lyons⁸, Derval Igoe³, Peter Barrett^{2

9}

Affiliations

¹ School of Medicine and Health, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
² School of Public Health, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
³ HSE Health Protection Surveillance Centre, Dublin, Ireland.
⁴ Sexual Health Centre, Cork, Ireland.
⁵ School of Psychology, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland.
⁶ Sigma Research, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.
⁷ Gay Health Network, Dublin, Ireland.
⁸ St. James's Hospital, James St, Saint James' (part of Phoenix Park), Dublin 8, Dublin, Ireland.
⁹ Department of Public Health HSE-South, St. Finbarr's Hospital, Cork, Ireland.

Abstract

Background: Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM) report a higher prevalence of drug use in comparison to the general male population. However, in Ireland, there is a paucity of literature regarding the prevalence of drug use and its determinants among gbMSM.

Aims/objectives: To quantify the prevalence of (i) recreational drug use (RDU) and (ii) sexualised drug use (SDU) among gbMSM in Ireland, and to identify the factors associated with these drug use practices.

Methods: The European MSM Internet Survey (EMIS) 2017 was an online, anonymous, internationally-promoted questionnaire. Two binary outcomes were included in our analyses: (1) RDU and (2) SDU in the previous year. Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression explored factors associated with these outcomes, and all independent covariates were adjusted for one another.

Results: Among gbMSM without HIV (n = 1,898), 40.9% and 13.1% engaged in RDU and SDU in the previous year, respectively. Among diagnosed-positive gbMSM (n = 141), the past-year respective prevalence estimates were 51.8% and 26.2%. Increased odds of RDU were observed among gbMSM who were younger (vs. 40+ years) (18-24 years; AOR 2.96, 95% CI 2.05-4.28, 25-39 years; AOR 1.66, 95% CI 1.27-2.16), lived in Dublin (vs. elsewhere) (AOR 1.47, 95% CI 1.17-1.83), and engaged in condomless anal intercourse (CAI) in the previous year (vs. none) (1-2 partners; AOR 1.79, 95% CI 1.34-2.38, 6+ partners; AOR 1.79, 95% CI 1.18-2.71). Greater odds of SDU were identified among those who lived in Dublin (vs. elsewhere) (AOR 1.50, 95% CI 1.07-2.10), and engaged in CAI (vs. none) (1-2 partners; AOR 3.16, 95% CI 2.05-4.88, 3-5 partners; AOR 2.50, 95% CI 1.47-4.26, and 6+ partners; AOR 3.79, 95% CI 2.23-6.43).

Conclusion: GbMSM report a high prevalence of drug use in Ireland. Targeted interventions, including harm reduction campaigns, may be needed to support healthier drug use choices among this community.

Copyright: © 2023 Daly et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Cross-Sectional Studies
HIV Infections* / epidemiology
Homosexuality, Male
Humans
Ireland / epidemiology
Male
Sexual Behavior
Sexual and Gender Minorities*
Substance-Related Disorders* / epidemiology
Surveys and Questionnaires

Grants and funding

EMIS-2017 occurred as part of ESTICOM (European Surveys and Training to Improve MSM Community Health), a three-year project funded by the European Commission Health Programme 2014-2020 through a tender commissioned by the Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency (CHAFEA) to deliver evidence about the sexual health of gay men, bisexual men and other MSM across Europe. For this study, the authors received no specific funding.