Understanding Substance Use and Incident HIV/STI Among Young Black MSM

Emory University

Status

Completed

Conditions

HIV

Substance Abuse

Study type

Observational

Funder types

Other

NIH

Identifiers

NCT02503618

1R01DA038196-01 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

IRB00078950

Details and patient eligibility

About

The scientific purpose of this study is to look at how substance use may relate to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among young black men who have sex with men in Atlanta.

Full description

Young black men who have sex with men (YBMSM) are a critically at-risk population in the United States and Atlanta that faces extremely high incidence rates of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The understanding of what places this group of men at high risk is incomplete, and the role of substances in amplifying that risk is unclear. This study will fill a number of gaps about how substances and partnerships place YBMSM at increased HIV risk. The study includes several innovative aspects. First, the investigators are using a theoretical framework to understand multilevel associations between substance use and HIV risk behavior in YBMSM in the southeastern United States, a critically at-risk but understudied population. Second, the investigators are using a variety of enhanced measurement methods to understand these associations. The investigators are supplementing self-reported substance use with objective measures to enhance the sensitivity of classifying recent use. The investigators will analyze incident HIV/STI endpoints in addition to self-reported sexual behaviors. The investigators will use detailed, event-based and dyadic measures of substance use and its covariates, which will capture both sexual and non-sexual contexts of use. Although previous cohort studies have explored alcohol and drug use during sexual events among men who have sex with men (MSM), few studies have described both sexual and non-sexual patterns of, and motivations for, substance use among YBMSM, and none have incorporated longitudinal biomarkers of substance use and related these to incident infection outcomes. Finally, the investigators are using a mixed-methods approach to provide context to the quantitative findings. By recruiting subjects to a nested qualitative study within the larger cohort based on their interval-specific risks, the investigators will gain in-depth information regarding the emergence, persistence, and resolution of these complex relationships between substances and sexual risk behaviors among YBMSM and how these relationships emerge and are resolved over time.

Enrollment

469 patients

Sex

Male

Ages

18 to 29 years old

Volunteers

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

male at birth
currently identifies as male
age ≥18 years and < 30 years at enrollment
had anal sex with a man in lifetime
has had any sex with a man in the past 3 months
self-reported race is black/African American
lives in Atlanta area and plans to remain for 2 years
is able to complete the survey instruments in English
is willing to provide at least 2 means of contact
is willing to be re-contacted for the return of HIV/STI testing results, and for other study reasons as necessary
is not enrolled in an HIV prevention trial