Aims
To describe the sexual behaviour and related risk of a sample of dance drug users and compare this with data
from the UK National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles 2000 survey.
Methods
Cross-sectional purposive sampling using both self-completion postal and web-based questionnaires.
Findings
This sample of dance drug users are more sexually active and have more concurrent partners than the general population. Rates of anal or vaginal sex within the last year without condom use are high and of concern (men 80 per cent; women 90 per cent). These dance drug users appear also to have higher lifetime prevalence of sexually transmitted infections than the general population and are also more likely to have ever attended a sexual health clinic.
Conclusions
Clubbing and dance drug use, as part of a socially active lifestyle, is associated with elevated and pronounced sexual health risk. Future epidemiological studies of sexual health risk should incorporate investigation of both clubbing and recreational drug use in order to confirm the representativeness of these observations. Clubbers should be considered a target for dedicated sexual health promotion interventions, which may also be combined with interventions targeting drug and alcohol use.
Keywords: Unsafe sex; Sexually transmitted infections; Health promotion; Nightclubbing; Dance drug use
Article Outline
Introduction Methods Results The Mixmag sample Sexual activity levels in the two samples compared Condom use Sexually transmitted infections Discussion Limitations More sexually active: more partners, more concurrent partners Lower levels of condom use and greater incidence of STIs Drug use, sex and sexual risk Study implications Acknowledgements References