Assessing the longitudinal stability of latent classes of substance use among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Association between substance use and HIV-risk among gay and bisexual men (GBM) is well documented. However, their substance use patterns are diverse, and it is unknown whether self-reported use patterns are stable over time.

Methods

Sexually-active GBM, aged >16 years, were recruited in Metro Vancouver using respondent-driven sampling and followed across 5 study visits at six-month intervals (n = 449). To identify distinct patterns of substance use and their longitudinal stability, Latent Transition Analysis (LTA) was conducted for drugs reported by at least 30 participants. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) quantified the stability of class assignments.

Results

Six classes characterizing 'limited drug use' (i.e., low use of all drugs, except alcoh

SUBMITTER: Card KG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7583659 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature