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Information-seeking behaviours in Australian sexual minority men engaged in chemsex

INTRODUCTION: Chemsex refers to using illicit substances to facilitate sexual experiences in men who have sex with men. Chemsex has been linked to significant negative impacts on psychological, social, and physical wellbeing. Little is known about information-seeking behaviours in this population. T...

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Autores principales: Demant, Daniel, Carroll, Julie-Anne, Saliba, Bernard, Bourne, Adam
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Elsevier 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9193851/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35712328
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.abrep.2021.100399
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author Demant, Daniel
Carroll, Julie-Anne
Saliba, Bernard
Bourne, Adam
author_facet Demant, Daniel
Carroll, Julie-Anne
Saliba, Bernard
Bourne, Adam
author_sort Demant, Daniel
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: Chemsex refers to using illicit substances to facilitate sexual experiences in men who have sex with men. Chemsex has been linked to significant negative impacts on psychological, social, and physical wellbeing. Little is known about information-seeking behaviours in this population. This study aims to provide an in-depth understanding of seeking and engaging with health information. METHODS: Self-identified Australian sexual minority men who engage in chemsex (N = 184) participated in an anonymous cross-sectional survey. Variables included chemsex engagement, knowledge, perception and use of harm-reduction information, and associated health and support services. Pearson correlation and ANOVAs were conducted. Wilcoxon-Signed-Rank and Friedman tests were applied to analyse the perceived trustworthiness of information sources. RESULTS: Chemsex represented a meaningful part of sexual events. Most participants knew where to access professional help and harm-reduction information but worried about being judged. Most did not feel comfortable discussing chemsex with health professionals except with sexual health doctors/counsellors. Few users discussed health risks with a professional. Information on chemsex was received through multiple sources with significant differences in perceived relevance and trustworthiness, with sexual health doctors/nurses ranked the most trustworthy information. Interest in non-traditional sources of information was low except for formal peer networks and anonymous personal expert advice. CONCLUSION: Engagement with health professionals and harm-reduction information is limited in this population, despite high risk and potentially significant adverse health outcomes. Results suggest that new and combined approaches are necessary to reach this population, including peer support networks, anonymous personal advice and changing community attitudes towards chemsex.
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spelling pubmed-91938512022-06-15 Information-seeking behaviours in Australian sexual minority men engaged in chemsex Demant, Daniel Carroll, Julie-Anne Saliba, Bernard Bourne, Adam Addict Behav Rep Research paper INTRODUCTION: Chemsex refers to using illicit substances to facilitate sexual experiences in men who have sex with men. Chemsex has been linked to significant negative impacts on psychological, social, and physical wellbeing. Little is known about information-seeking behaviours in this population. This study aims to provide an in-depth understanding of seeking and engaging with health information. METHODS: Self-identified Australian sexual minority men who engage in chemsex (N = 184) participated in an anonymous cross-sectional survey. Variables included chemsex engagement, knowledge, perception and use of harm-reduction information, and associated health and support services. Pearson correlation and ANOVAs were conducted. Wilcoxon-Signed-Rank and Friedman tests were applied to analyse the perceived trustworthiness of information sources. RESULTS: Chemsex represented a meaningful part of sexual events. Most participants knew where to access professional help and harm-reduction information but worried about being judged. Most did not feel comfortable discussing chemsex with health professionals except with sexual health doctors/counsellors. Few users discussed health risks with a professional. Information on chemsex was received through multiple sources with significant differences in perceived relevance and trustworthiness, with sexual health doctors/nurses ranked the most trustworthy information. Interest in non-traditional sources of information was low except for formal peer networks and anonymous personal expert advice. CONCLUSION: Engagement with health professionals and harm-reduction information is limited in this population, despite high risk and potentially significant adverse health outcomes. Results suggest that new and combined approaches are necessary to reach this population, including peer support networks, anonymous personal advice and changing community attitudes towards chemsex. Elsevier 2021-12-11 /pmc/articles/PMC9193851/ /pubmed/35712328 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.abrep.2021.100399 Text en © 2021 The Authors https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
spellingShingle Research paper
Demant, Daniel
Carroll, Julie-Anne
Saliba, Bernard
Bourne, Adam
Information-seeking behaviours in Australian sexual minority men engaged in chemsex
title Information-seeking behaviours in Australian sexual minority men engaged in chemsex
title_full Information-seeking behaviours in Australian sexual minority men engaged in chemsex
title_fullStr Information-seeking behaviours in Australian sexual minority men engaged in chemsex
title_full_unstemmed Information-seeking behaviours in Australian sexual minority men engaged in chemsex
title_short Information-seeking behaviours in Australian sexual minority men engaged in chemsex
title_sort information-seeking behaviours in australian sexual minority men engaged in chemsex
topic Research paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9193851/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35712328
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.abrep.2021.100399
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