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. 2022 Mar 14;34(3):450-461.
doi: 10.1080/19317611.2022.2045417. eCollection 2022.

Sexualized Drug Use and Chemsex: Their Association with Sexual Health Among Men who have Sex with Men Living in Greece

Antonios Poulios  1   2 , Anna Apostolidou  1   2 , Stavroula Triantafyllidou  2 , Konstantinos Protopapas  3 , Athanasios Tapeinos  2 , Georgios Papadopetrakis  2 , Martha Papadopoulou  4 , Anastasia Antoniadou  3 , Mina Psichogiou  4 , Lissy Canellopoulos  1
Affiliations

Sexualized Drug Use and Chemsex: Their Association with Sexual Health Among Men who have Sex with Men Living in Greece

Antonios Poulios et al. Int J Sex Health. .

Abstract

Objectives: The study aims to investigate rates of sexualized drug use (SDU) and chemsex, a type of SDU involving specifically the use of crystal methamphetamine, mephedrone, or GHB/GBL and their association with the rates of negative sexual health outcomes among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Greece. Methods: Survey of 485 MSM in internal disease departments and community testing centers. Results: Twenty-eight percent of participants were involved in SDU and 20.4% in chemsex. HIV positive status and recent STI diagnoses were associated with SDU involvement. Conclusion: SDU and chemsex rates and their impact on health reveal the need for informed community-based services.

Keywords: Greece; Sexualized drug use; chemsex; men who have sex with men; sexual health.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

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