Objectives: The global mpox (clade II) outbreak of 2022 primarily affected gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM) and was met with swift community and public health responses. We aimed to estimate the relative impact of changes in sexual behaviours, contact tracing/isolation, and first-dose vaccination on transmission in Canadian cities.
Methods: We estimated changes in sexual behaviours during the outbreak using 2022 data from the Engage Cohort Study which recruited self-identified GBM in Montréal, Toronto, and Vancouver (n=1,445).
Background: Some transgender and nonbinary people undergo phalloplasty and/or metoidioplasty as part of their medical transition process. Across surgical disciplines, a variety of resources are used to assist patients who are preparing for surgeries, including educational materials, workshops, peer support, and lifestyle changes. For gender-affirming surgeries, patients undergoing assessments to discern whether they are ready to undergo the surgery, and to assist them in achieving preparedness when needed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Transgend Health
November 2023
Misgendering-using the wrong name, pronoun, or gendered language to refer to someone-is known to have negative impacts on the mental health and well-being of trans individuals generally. However, little is known about the effects of misgendering on nonbinary people specifically. As such, our research asked: 1) Among nonbinary people, what factors are associated with frequency of misgendering?; and 2) Do nonbinary people who experience misgendering less often have better health outcomes? We analyzed data from Trans PULSE Canada, a community-based survey of trans and nonbinary people living in Canada, using a subset ( = 1091) who identified as nonbinary and completed questions on misgendering.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThere is a lack of research regarding dietary supplement (DS) use among Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Two-Spirit, Queer (GBT2Q) men and non-binary individuals, despite the higher prevalence of body image issues and societal pressure within this community. This study aimed to investigate patterns and predictors of DS use in this population, including types of DS used, sources of information, and reasons for DS use. A validated and anonymous online questionnaire was completed by 204 participants (52.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Oral human papillomavirus (HPV) infections are a leading cause of oropharyngeal cancers. In 2015 and 2016, HPV vaccines became publicly funded for gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM) under 27 years of age in most Canadian provinces.
Methods: Between 2017 and 2019, sexually active GBM in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver were recruited through respondent-driven sampling.
Objective: Sexual minority men (SMM) living with HIV report significantly greater methamphetamine use compared with heterosexual and HIV-negative peers. Greater use may be related to stressors (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe prevalence and relative disparities of mental health outcomes and well-being indicators are often inconsistent across studies of sexual minority men (SMM) due to selection biases in community-based surveys (nonprobability sample), as well as misclassification biases in population-based surveys where some SMM often conceal their sexual orientation identities. The present study estimated the prevalence of mental health related outcomes (depressive symptoms, mental health service use, anxiety) and well-being indicators (loneliness and self-rated mental health) among SMM, broken down by sexual orientation using the adjusted logistic propensity score (ALP) weighting. We applied the ALP to correct for selection biases in the 2019 Sex Now data (a community-based survey of SMMs in Canada) by reweighting it to the 2015-2018 Canadian Community Health Survey (a population survey from Statistics Canada).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Understanding who uses internet-based sexually transmitted and blood-borne infection (STBBI) services can inform programme implementation, particularly among those most impacted by STBBIs, including gender and sexual minority (GSM) men. GetCheckedOnline, an internet-based STBBI testing service in British Columbia, Canada, launched in 2014. Our objectives were to assess reach, identify factors associated with use of GetCheckedOnline 5 years into implementation and describe reasons for using and not using GetCheckedOnline among GSM men.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Gay or bisexual (GB) and other men who have sex with men (MSM) are disproportionately affected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) globally and domestically in Canada. Reliable and recent population size estimates are necessary to allocate resources to meet prevention needs and for modelling the HIV epidemic. However, previous direct estimates did not account for GB men who would not reveal their sexual identity to a government survey, nor MSM not identifying as GB.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a highly effective biomedical intervention used by HIV-negative people to prevent HIV acquisition. Despite increased use of PrEP worldwide, several barriers to PrEP implementation have resulted in insufficient uptake, inadequate adherence, and frequent discontinuation. Our objective was to interrogate the social, political, and economic conditions shaping PrEP implementation and delivery among gay, bisexual, queer and other men who have sex with men (GBQM) in Ontario, Canada.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: To cope with homonegativity-generated stress, gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBM) use more mental health services (MHS) compared with heterosexual men. Most previous research on MHS among GBM uses data from largely white HIV-negative samples. Using an intersectionality-based approach, we evaluated the concomitant impact of racialization and HIV stigma on MHS use among GBM, through the mediating role of perceived discrimination (PD).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Minority stress from racism and heterosexism may uniquely interact to impact the mental health of racialized sexual minorities. We examined variations in anxiety and depressive symptoms by reported by ethno-racial identity among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM) in Vancouver, Canada.
Methods: We recruited gbMSM aged ≥ 16 years from February 2012 to February 2015 using respondent-driven sampling (RDS).
Background: The secondary impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic may disproportionately affect gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM), particularly related to HIV prevention and treatment outcomes. We applied syndemic theory to examine PrEP disruptions during the during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in Vancouver, Canada.
Methods: Sexually-active GBM, aged 16 + years, were enrolled through respondent-driven sampling (RDS) from February 2017 to August 2019.
Objective: Epidemics impact individuals unevenly across race, gender, and sexuality. In addition to being more vulnerable to COVID-19 infection, evidence suggests racialized gender and sexual minorities experienced disproportionate levels of discrimination and stigma during the COVID-19 epidemic. Drawing on Critical Race Theory (CRT), we examined the experiences of gay, bisexual, queer, and other men who have sex with men (GBQM) of colour facing discrimination during COVID-19.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Transgender and non-binary people (TGNB) have a higher rate of heavy episodic drinking than cisgender people; however, extant knowledge about predictors of hazardous alcohol drinking (HAD) among different TGNB groups is limited. This study examined predictors of HAD in a national sample of TGNB people in Canada.
Methods: Logistic regression models were fit to examine the effects of 1) minority stressors and 2) stress-buffering factors on the likelihood of HAD, stratified by gender, among 2324 TGNB individuals from the Trans PULSE Canada survey, a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2019 among trans and non-binary people aged 14+ in Canada.
Background: Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV is underutilized. We aimed to identify barriers to use of PrEP and strategies that may facilitate its uptake.
Methods: Gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, aged 19 years or older and living in Ontario and British Columbia, Canada, completed a cross-sectional survey in 2019-2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to the widespread adoption of virtual care-the use of communication technologies to receive health care at home. We explored the differential impacts of the rapid transition to virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic on health-care access and delivery for gay, bisexual and queer men (GBQM), a population that disproportionately experiences sexual and mental health disparities in Canada. Adopting a sociomaterial theoretical perspective, we analysed 93 semi-structured interviews with GBQM (n = 93) in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, Canada, conducted between November 2020 and February 2021 (n = 42) and June-October 2021 (n = 51).
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