Drug abuse and its influencing factors among young men who have sex with men in Wuhan, China

Objective To examine epidemiological feature and influencing factors of drug abuse among young men who have sex with men(YMSM) and to provide evidences for targeted acquired immunodeficiency syndrome/human immunodeficiency virus(AIDS/HIV) intervention.Methods Totally 397 YMSM were recruited through peer recommendation, internet promotion, extending activity and HIV voluntary counseling and testing(VCT) from May to November, 2013 in Wuhan, and the questionnaires were completed anonymously by the participants.Multivariate logistic regression was used to explore factors associated with drug abuse.Results Of the YMSM, 22.9%(91/397) reported ever taking excitatory drugs.Of the ever drug users, 35.2%(32/91) were students, with an average age of 21.8±2.2 years; 18.7%(17/91) reported taking drugs frequently; and 84.2%(75/91) reported the experience of having homosexual behavior after taking drugs, of which, 42.7%(32/75) reported consistent condom use in the sexual activities.The positive rate of HIV infection was 6.8% among all the YMSM and the rate was 12.1% among the self-reported ever drug users, significantly higher than that(5.2%, 16/308) among the YMSM without drug abuse history(χ²=5.290.P=0.021).Logistic regression analyses showed that the YMSM having activities in internet cafes(odds ratio OR=1.917, 95% confidence interval 95% CI=1.126-3.266) and having homosexual behavior with the partners ≤15 years old(OR=1.917, 95% CI=1.126-3.266) were more likely to have drug abuse.Conclusion The YMSM with drug abuse history have a higher positive rate of HIV infection, suggesting specific interventions need to be promoted among the population.