Drug use and its associated factors among money boys in Hunan Province, China

- This study examined the status of drug use and its associated factors among money boys in Hunan Province, China.
- Data of 205 participants were collected.
- Thirty-nine percent of money boys had used drugs in the past 3 months.
- Length of service, the only child in the family, relationship between parents and social network were associated with drug use.

ObjectivesTo describe drug use, types of drugs and related factors among money boys in Hunan Province, China.Study designA cross-sectional study was conducted between July 2012 and January 2013.MethodsBased on respondent-driven sampling, researchers located seven 'seeds' via a gay-dating website: http://www.ixxqy.org. After three waves of recruitment, 234 money boys were enrolled. They were asked to complete a 23-item questionnaire regarding demographic characteristics, drug use, a history of human immunodeficiency virus infection and family environment. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were conducted using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Version 20.0.ResultsIn total, 205 valid questionnaires were collected. Based on the data collected, 80 (39.0%) money boys had used drugs within the last 3 months. Rush popper (36.6%) and methamphetamine (12.7%) were used most commonly, and other drugs used were ecstasy (7.8%), ketamine (5.9%), marijuana (2.4%), morphine (1.5%), heroin (1.0%) and cocaine (0.5%). Factors included in the logistic regression were length of service (odds ratio [OR] 0.395, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.175-0.896), being an only child (OR 2.272, 95% CI 1.108-4.659), relationship between parents (OR 0.428, 95% CI 0.213-0.858) and social network (OR 2.387, 95% CI 1.144-4.970). A shorter length of service and a good relationship between parents were protective factors against drug use, while being an only child and having a wide social network were risk factors.ConclusionDrug use is common among money boys. This study found that length of service, being an only child, relationship between parents and social network are associated with drug use.