Abstract
BackgroundSyndemics of illicit drug use and HIV remain as significant public health issues around the world. There has been increasing concern regarding the rapidly growing market of new psychoactive substances, particularly in Asia. In response, the Japanese government has increasingly banned such substances in recent years. We sought to identify the prevalence and correlates of use of quasi-legal psychoactive substances among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) in Japan.MethodsData were derived from a nationwide survey of PLHIV conducted at nine leading HIV/AIDS care hospitals between July and December 2013. The prevalence and correlates of the use of quasi-legal psychoactive substances (e.g., synthetic cannabinoids, cathinone derivatives, etc. that had not been prohibited from using at the time of survey) among male participants were examined using multivariate survey logistic regression.ResultsAmong 963 study participants, the majority (95.3%) were male. The most commonly used drug among men was quasi-legal psychoactive substances (55.3% ever and 12.8% in the previous year). In multivariate analysis, the lifetime use of tryptamine-type derivatives (i.e., 5-MeO-DIPT or N,N-diisopropyl-5-methoxytryptamine) (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 2.42; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.36–4.28) and methamphetamine/amphetamine (AOR: 3.59; 95% CI: 2.13–6.04) were independently associated with recent quasi-legal psychoactive substance use.ConclusionsIn our sample of male PLHIV in Japan, quasi-legal psychoactive substances were the most commonly used drugs. Individuals who had ever used tryptamine-type derivatives or methamphetamine/amphetamine were more likely to report recent quasi-legal psychoactive substance use, suggesting a potential shift in drug use patterns from regulated to unregulated substances among this population. These findings indicate a need for further research to examine implications for HIV care.
Highlights
Syndemics of illicit drug use and Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remain as significant public health issues around the world
Many countries in the world are contending with syndemics of illicit drug use and HIV/Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) [1, 2]
Study design Data for this study were derived from a nationwide crosssectional survey of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) conducted at nine leading HIV/ AIDS referral hospitals in Japan between July and December 2013
Summary
Syndemics of illicit drug use and HIV remain as significant public health issues around the world. We sought to identify the prevalence and correlates of use of quasi-legal psychoactive substances among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) in Japan. Little is known about the extent and patterns of use of other synthetic drugs in this context. This is concerning because the Asia-Pacific region has recently experienced explosive increases in the availability of a variety of quasi-legal, mostly synthetic psychoactive substances [8]. These substances are designed to mimic the pharmacological effects of regulated substances including methamphetamine [8]
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