@article{3030905,
    title = "Chems4EU: chemsex use and its impacts across four European countries in
HIV-positive men who have sex with men attending HIV services",
    author = "Whitlock, Gary G. and Protopapas, Konstantinos and Bernardino, I, Jose and and Imaz, Arkaitz and Curran, Adrian and Stingone, Christof and and Shivasankar, Sivapatham and Edwards, Sarah and Herbert, Sophie and and Thomas, Konstantinos and Mican, Rafael and Prieto, Paula and Garcia, and Jorge Nestor and Andreoni, Massimo and Hill, Samantha and Okhai, Hajra and and Stuart, David and Bourne, Adam and Conway, Katie",
    journal = "Neurobehavioral HIV Medicine",
    year = "2021",
    volume = "22",
    number = "10",
    pages = "944-957",
    publisher = "Wiley",
    doi = "10.1111/hiv.13160",
    keywords = "chemsex; HIV; MSM; recreational drug",
    abstract = "Introduction Chemsex in a European context is the use of any of the
following drugs to facilitate sex: crystal methamphetamine, mephedrone
and gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB)/gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) and, to a
lesser extent, cocaine and ketamine. This study describes the prevalence
of self-reported recreational drug use and chemsex in HIV-positive men
who have sex with men (MSM) accessing HIV services in four countries. It
also examines the problematic impacts and harms of chemsex and access to
chemsex-related services. Methods This is a cross-sectional multi-centre
questionnaire study of HIV-positive MSM accessing nine HIV services in
the UK, Spain, Greece and Italy. Results In all, 1589 HIV-positive MSM
attending HIV services in four countries completed the questionnaire.
The median age of participants was 38 years (interquartile range: 32-46
years) and 1525 (96.0%) were taking antiretroviral therapy (ART). In
the previous 12 months, 709 (44.6%) had used recreational drugs, 382
(24.0%) reported chemsex and 104 (6.5%) reported injection of
chemsex-associated drugs (’slamsex’). Of the 382 engaging in chemsex,
155 (40.6%) reported unwanted side effects as a result of chemsex and
81 (21.2%) as a result of withdrawal from chemsex. The reported
negative impacts from chemsex were on work (25.1%, 96), friends/family
(24.3%, 93) and relationships (28.3%, 108). Fifty-seven (14.9%)
accessed chemsex-related services in the past year, 38 of whom (67%)
felt the service met their needs. Discussion A quarter of participants
self-reported chemsex in the past 12 months. There were high rates of
harms from chemsex across all countries, including negative impacts on
work, friends/family and relationships. Although a minority of those
engaging in chemsex accessed support, most found this useful."
}