Publications by authors named "Syed W Noor"

Article Synopsis
  • The study examines how both distal (external) and proximal (internal) stressors affect alcohol use among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM), considering the impact of anxiety and depression as mediators.
  • Researchers analyzed data from 2,449 GBM across major Canadian cities, using advanced statistical methods to identify relationships between stressors, mental health, and alcohol consumption.
  • The findings indicate that while distal stress leads to increased proximal stress and mental health issues, the direct effects on alcohol use are more complex, with anxiety and depression playing differing roles in alcohol consumption and problems.
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  • Positive attitudes towards HIV treatment among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM) may lead to riskier sexual behaviors that increase the chances of bacterial STIs.
  • A study involving 2449 GBM discovered a direct link between favorable HIV treatment attitudes and higher rates of current STI diagnoses, particularly through pathways of having more male anal sex partners and engaging in condomless anal sex.
  • The findings stress the need for healthcare providers to educate GBM about the risks attached to these attitudes in order to improve sexual health counseling, testing, and prevention strategies.
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  • The study investigated the attitudes of gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM) towards amphetamine use and factors influencing the reduction of such use over time in Canadian cities.
  • A total of 2,449 participants were recruited, with a significant percentage reporting past six-month amphetamine use, but only a small fraction felt they needed substantial help to reduce it.
  • The research found that those who perceived their amphetamine use as problematic were less likely to successfully reduce their consumption, highlighting the need for tailored interventions for individuals struggling with substance use perceptions.
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Background: The Engage Study is a longitudinal biobehavioral cohort study of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBM) in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. Baseline data (2,449 participants) were collected from February 2017 - August 2019 using respondent-driven sampling (RDS). Recruitment in Montreal required fewer seeds, had a much shorter recruitment period, and recruited the largest sample.

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This study evaluated the association between resilience and PrEP use among a population-based sample of Canadian gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM). Sexually active GBM aged ≥ 16 years old were recruited via respondent-driven sampling (RDS) in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver from 02/2017 to 07/2019. We conducted a pooled cross-sectional analysis of HIV-negative/unknown GBM who met clinical eligibility for PrEP.

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  • The study investigates how crystal methamphetamine use impacts the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM) by exploring attitudes toward condoms and sexual escape motives.
  • Using data from over 2400 sexually active GBM in Canada, researchers identified indirect relationships linking crystal methamphetamine risk with bacterial STI diagnoses through sexual behaviors and attitudes.
  • Findings suggest that public health interventions should focus on addressing the attitudes and practices related to sexual health to effectively reduce STI risks among GBM who use crystal meth.
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  • Accessibility of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in Canada varies by province, with British Columbia offering full public funding since January 2018, while Ontario and Montreal have more limited coverage and potential out-of-pocket costs.
  • A study involving 2,008 gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM) from Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal found that PrEP awareness was high (88%), but initial use was only 22.5%, with significant increases in usage over time across all cities.
  • The results indicated that Vancouver had the highest PrEP usage rates compared to Montreal, attributed partly to the availability of free public funding in BC; enhancing public funding for PrEP could help further improve
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There are many reasons why individuals engage in prosocial behavior; communal sexual altruism is based on the notion that some practice safer sex in the interest of promoting the well-being of their community/in-group. Given that definitions of what constitutes "safer sex" have changed with advances in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention, we investigated the importance of communal sexual altruism (herein "altruism") among urban gay, bisexual, and other sexual minority men (GBM) in the contemporary context. Using a sample of 2449 GBM we examined the association of both safer-sex-related attitudes (e.

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Objectives: The last Canadian biobehavioural surveillance study of HIV and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBI) among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBM) was conducted in 2010. We designed a study to measure STBBI prevalence among GBM in metropolitan Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver and to document related preventive and risk behaviours.

Methods: The Engage Cohort Study used respondent-driven sampling (RDS) to recruit GBM who reported sex with another man in the past 6 months.

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Background: In Canada, gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBM) are disproportionately affected by HIV. Our objective was to describe access to HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and identify factors associated with not using PrEP among self-reported HIV-negative or HIV-unknown GBM.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional analysis of the Engage study cohort.

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Introduction: Treatment as prevention strategies have been variously applied across provinces in Canada. We estimated HIV care cascade indicators and correlates of unsuppressed viral load (VL) among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBM) recruited in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.

Methods: Sexually active GBM, aged ≥16 years, were recruited through respondent-driven sampling (RDS) from February 2017 to August 2019.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study focused on patterns of substance use among Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) over a 12-year period, specifically how and why individuals transition between different substance use classes.
  • Findings showed that while overall use of cocaine and erectile dysfunction medications decreased, marijuana and heroin use increased, with a large majority of participants remaining in the same substance use category across the study period.
  • Differences were noted based on age and race, with older MSM more likely to move from minimal use to alcohol use and non-White MSM less likely to transition to a higher level of alcohol and poppers use, highlighting the need for tailored prevention and treatment approaches within this diverse population.
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Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM) continue to have high rates of HIV and sexually transmitted infections, including syphilis. GBM have therefore been identified by public health agencies as a high-priority population to reach with prevention initiatives. Despite the importance of mental health in preventing HIV and related infections, there is a shortage of credentialed mental health professionals to deliver behavioral Counseling interventions.

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Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs; e.g., neglect, sexual abuse) among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM) may not occur in isolation, but may be connected and occur in clusters.

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Chinese Confucian filial piety posits that getting married and having children to maintain family bloodlines is a fundamental duty of children to their parents. Chinese lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals experience added stresses because of the pressure to get married from parents, social environments, and themselves. However, no research thus far has examined the influence of this added stressor, called "pressure to get married," on the mental health of LGB individuals in China.

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Using cross-sectional survey data (Engage, 2017-2018) from 1,137 men who have sex with men, ≥16 years old, in Montreal, we compared observed human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seroconcordance in previous-6-months' sexual partnerships with what would have been observed by chance if zero individuals serosorted. Of 5 recent partnerships where both individuals were HIV-negative, we compared observed concordance in preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use with the counterfactual if zero individuals selected partners based on PrEP use. We estimated the concordance by chance using a balancing-partnerships approach assuming proportionate mixing.

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Context: Substance use interventions for methamphetamine-using men who have sex with men (MSM) are limited by the assumption that they are a uniform group. We hypothesized that an LCA would identify distinct patterns of substance use and demographic and psychosocial variables associated with different substance-using groups would aid in understanding distinctions. Using cross-sectional data from 343 methamphetamine-using MSM, we conducted an LCA to model the patterns of polysubstance use then examined how the classes varied on psychosocial variables defined by the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills (IMB) model.

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The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake. In the section, "Data Collection Procedure", the last sentence was incorrect.

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Background: To maximize public health impact and cost-effectiveness, HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) must reach individuals at high HIV risk. Referrals for PrEP can be self- or provider-initiated, but there are several challenges to both. We assessed whether HIV risk differed by referral source among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex (gbMSM) screening for an HIV PrEP demonstration project.

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Sexual minority men report higher psychological distress than heterosexual men, including depression and anxiety. Research suggests that these health disparities may be due to the heightened stressors that gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals experience. Some of these stressors occur early on in life, such as childhood abuse and bullying, and may include stressors that are topically related to sexual minority status, such as anti-gay bullying and teasing for gender nonconformity to masculine gender norms.

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Using latent class analysis (LCA), we examined patterns of participation in multiple scenes, how sexual risk practices vary by scene, and psychosocial factors associated with these patterns among 470 gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM) recruited from Toronto. We calculated posterior probability of being in a class from participation in nine separate scenes. We used Entropy, the Bayesian information criterion and the Lo-Mendel-Rubin likelihood ratio test to identify the best fit model.

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