Experience and views of healthcare professionals towards people who use new psychoactive substances: Evidence from statutory, non-statutory, and private mental health and addiction healthcare services.

Objective: It is unclear how healthcare professionals (HCPs) experience and view the challenges of working with people who use New Psychoactive Substances (PWUNPS), in different healthcare services (HCS). The aim of the study was to explore HCPs' experiences of working with individuals who use NPS across statutory, non-statutory, and private mental health and addiction HCSs.

Methods: HCPs completed in-depth semi-structured interviews.

Exploring Diversity in HIV Research in the Sexual Partnerships of Australian Gay and Bisexual Men.

Gay and bisexual men engage in a variety of sexual partnerships, but the most common distinction made in HIV research and behavioral surveillance is a binary between "regular" and "casual" partners. The "regular partner" category is often perceived as pertaining to ongoing coupled "boyfriend" relationships, with the literature to date rarely troubling what actually constitutes a "regular partner." Some emerging literature has identified "fuckbuddy" partnerships as a type of regular partnership requiring attention, but it is relatively new and not well understood.

A Systematic Review of UK Educational and Training Materials Aimed at Health and Social Care Staff about Providing Appropriate Services for LGBT+ People.

Background: There is greater dissatisfaction with health services by LGBT people compared to heterosexual and cisgender people and some of this is from lack of equality and diversity training for health professionals. Core training standards in sexual orientation for health professionals have been available since 2006. The purpose of this project is to systematically review educational materials for health and social care professionals in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) issues.

Attitudes and Perceived Social Norms toward Drug Use among Gay and Bisexual Men in Australia.

Background: Gay and bisexual men (GBM) report distinctive patterns and contexts of drug use, yet little has been published about their attitudes toward drug use.

Objectives: We developed measures of attitudes and perceived social norms toward drug use, and examined covariates of more accepting attitudes and norms among GBM in Australia.

Methods: We analyzed baseline data from the Following Lives Undergoing Change (Flux) study.

Age-related prevalence and twelve-month incidence of illicit drug use in a cohort of Australian gay and bisexual men: Results from the Flux Study.

Background: We report prevalence and incidence of drug use initiation in Australian gay and bisexual men (GBM) participating in an online cohort study.

Methods: Between September 2014 and June 2015, 1,710 GBM were enrolled in the Following Lives Undergoing Change Study and followed-up six monthly. Participants were asked about measures of lifetime use at baseline and recent use (last six months) at all visits.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular and respiratory condition epidemiology in sexual minority women.

Objective: Sexual minority women (SMW) experience higher chronic disease risk factors than heterosexual counterparts. However, it was unclear if these risks translate into higher physical condition rates. This systematic review evaluates cardiovascular disease (CVD), hypertension, respiratory disease and diabetes mellitus in SMW.

Intensive sex partying with gamma-hydroxybutyrate: factors associated with using gamma-hydroxybutyrate for chemsex among Australian gay and bisexual men - results from the Flux Study.

Unlabelled: Background Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) use among gay and bisexual men (GBM) has increased in recent years. It is commonly cited as a sexual-enhancement drug. There is, however, little evidence for factors associated with GHB use or the consequences of its use among GBM.

Negotiating gay men's relationships: how are monogamy and non-monogamy experienced and practised over time?

When viewed over time, many gay men's relationships are not static, or firmly fixed to monogamy or non-monogamy. This paper uses in-depth interviews with 61 Australian gay men to explore how monogamy and non-monogamy are experienced over time, expectations of what constitutes the norms regarding gay men's relationships and how couples experience and practices change. Although some gay men may idealise monogamy, particularly at the beginning of a relationship, it is often experienced as temporary.

Off-Label Use of Phosphodiesterase Type 5 Inhibitor Erectile Dysfunction Medication to Enhance Sex Among Gay and Bisexual Men in Australia: Results From the FLUX Study.

Background: Gay and bisexual men (GBM) use oral erectile dysfunction medications (EDMs) often with little evidence of medical indication necessitating their use.

Aim: To investigate the prevalence, contexts, and motivations for oral EDM use and its relation to sexual risk behavior.

Methods: A total of 2,250 Australian GBM completed an online survey of licit and illicit drug use and their associated behaviors.

Partnership agreements less likely among young gay and bisexual men in Australia - data from a national online survey of gay and bisexual men's relationships.

Background: How gay and bisexual men (GBM) establish partnership agreements may be affected by several factors, including age. The ability to communicate with a partner about sexual agreements has important sexual health implications for GBM.

Objective: To assess differences in partnership agreements among GBM.

Following Lives Undergoing Change (Flux) study: Implementation and baseline prevalence of drug use in an online cohort study of gay and bisexual men in Australia.

Background: Drug use among gay and bisexual men (GBM) is higher than most populations. The use of crystal methamphetamine, erectile dysfunction medication (EDM), and amyl nitrite have been associated with sexual risk behaviour and HIV infection among gay and bisexual men (GBM).

Objective: This paper describes an online prospective observational study of licit and illicit drug use among GBM and explores baseline prevalence of drug use in this sample.

Online dating among Australian gay and bisexual men: romance or hooking up?

Increasingly, gay and bisexual men (GBM) meet casual sex partners online and this has been associated with sexual risk behavior. How do GBM meet regular partners? This online anonymous survey of 4215 GBM included 2562 men with a primary regular partner (PRP) who were included in these analyses. Mean age of the sample was 38.

Trust, commitment, love and sex: HIV, monogamy, and gay men.

Research on gay men's relationships has neglected monogamy. Instead, it has tended to (a) emphasize HIV risk and relationship agreements between partners regarding sex and condom use with outside partners or (b) focus on nonmonogamous relationships as emblematic of relationship innovation. On the basis of qualitative interviews with 36 gay Australian men who favored a monogamous relationship as ideal, this article explores the meaning and practice of monogamy and its association with HIV risk.

Sense of coherence as a protective factor for psychological distress among gay men: a prospective cohort study.

Gay men face a greater risk of psychological distress than heterosexual men, yet research on protective factors among gay men has been limited. This prospective cohort study investigated whether a sense of coherence (SOC), as a form of coping, helps to protect against psychological distress among middle-aged and older gay men. A nationwide online survey was conducted among a baseline sample of 1135 Australian gay-identified men aged 40 years and older, with a follow-up survey 12 months later.

Acquisition of HIV by African-born residents of Victoria, Australia: insights from molecular epidemiology.

African-born Australians are a recognised "priority population" in Australia's Sixth National HIV/AIDS Strategy. We compared exposure location and route for African-born people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Victoria, Australia, with HIV-1 pol subtype from drug resistance assays and geographical origin suggested by phylogenetic analysis of env gene. Twenty adult HIV positive African-born Victorian residents were recruited via treating doctors.

Methamphetamine use in a nationwide online sample of older Australian HIV-positive and HIV-negative gay men.

Introduction And Aims: Use of methamphetamine appears to be greater among gay men than in the general population, yet little data are available on factors associated with use, especially among older men. This study identifies factors associated with reported methamphetamine use among older Australian gay men.

Design And Methods: Data were collected from an online survey involving 1135 HIV-positive and HIV-negative gay-identified men aged 40 years and older.

Factors related to positive mental health in a stigmatized minority: an investigation of older gay men.

Objectives: This study investigates factors related to the positive mental health of older Australian gay men, who are challenged by both age- and sexuality-related stigma.

Methods: A national online survey was conducted among 422 gay-identified men aged 40 years and older. Positive mental health was measured using the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (SWEMWBS).

Association of social determinants of health with self-rated health among Australian gay and bisexual men living with HIV.

Despite a vast improvement in the survival of people living with HIV (PLHIV) since the introduction of combination antiretroviral treatment (cART), little change in the self-rated health of PLHIV has been observed since the introduction of cART in Australia. Difficulties with attaining employment or achieving financial security have been noted as some of the key challenges still facing PLHIV in the post-cART era. As a result, we investigated the independent association of a number of key social determinants of health with self-rated health among HIV-positive gay and bisexual men in Australia.

Exploring the psychological impact of HIV: health comparisons of older Australian HIV-positive and HIV-negative gay men.

Little is known about the impact of HIV on the mental health of older gay men. In a nationwide online survey, 1,135 Australian gay men aged 40 years and older reported on their physical and mental health. Compared with HIV-negative men, those with HIV were more likely to report currently receiving treatment for a mental health condition (37 vs.

Sexual behavior and HIV testing among bisexual men: a nationwide comparison of Australian bisexual-identifying and gay-identifying men.

Men who have sex with men (MSM) are typically studied as though they were a homogeneous population. This has resulted in a lack of knowledge about the sexual health and behavior of bisexual men as distinct from gay men. In this study, patterns of sexual behavior and rates of HIV testing were compared between 854 gay-identifying and 164 bisexual-identifying men who participated in an Australian nationwide online survey.

Increasing HIV diagnoses in Australia among men who have sex with men correlated with the growing number not taking antiretroviral therapy.

Background: Australia has experienced rising notifications of HIV diagnoses despite widely available combination antiretroviral therapy (CART). New HIV diagnoses have also been younger than the average age of those living with HIV. We investigated the degree to which several risk factors could explain this rise in notifications and the younger age profile.