Demographics and non-consensual sexual* experiences of 273 MSM who practised and 620 MSM who did not practise chemsex† in the past 6 months, Amsterdam area, the Netherlands, between August 2018 and August 2019
| Variables | Chemsex† yes, n=273 (30.6%), n (%) | Chemsex† no, n=618 (69.4%), n (%) | P value | Total n=891 (%), n (%) |
| Median age in years (IQR) | 40 (31–50) | 39 (29–49) | 0.071 | 39 (30–50) |
| Age categories in years | 0.054 | |||
| ≤24 | 22 (8.1) | 76 (12.3) | 98 (11.0) | |
| 25–34 | 72 (26.4) | 174 (28.2) | 246 (27.6) | |
| 35–44 | 66 (24.2) | 138 (22.4) | 204 (22.9) | |
| 45–54 | 75 (27.5) | 155 (25.0) | 230 (25.8) | |
| 55–64 | 36 (13.2) | 57 (9.2) | 93 (10.4) | |
| ≥65 | 2 (0.7) | 18 (2.9) | 20 (2.2) | |
| Residency (missing n=1) | 0.004 | |||
| Amsterdam | 106 (38.8) | 306 (49.6) | 412 (46.3) | |
| Elsewhere in the Netherlands | 164 (60.1) | 298 (48.3) | 462 (51.9) | |
| Abroad | 3 (1.1) | 13 (2.1) | 16 (1.8) | |
| Sex in <6 months with | 0.706 | |||
| Men | 253 (92.7) | 577 (93.4) | 830 (93.2) | |
| Both men and women | 20 (7.3) | 41 (6.6) | 61 (6.8) | |
| STI/HIV test in the last year | <0.001 | |||
| No | 21 (7.7) | 170 (27.5) | 191 (21.4) | |
| Yes, at the Public Health Service of Amsterdam | 71 (26.0) | 183 (29.6) | 254 (28.5) | |
| Yes, elsewhere | 181 (66.3) | 265 (42.9) | 446 (50.1) | |
| Condomless anal chemsex | 202/273 (74.0) | n.a. | ||
| Frequency | ||||
| Always without | 72 (35.6) | n.a. | ||
| Most of the time without | 53 (26.2) | n.a. | ||
| Sometimes with | 38 (18.8) | n.a. | ||
| Most of the time with | 39 (19.3) | n.a. | ||
| Always with | 0 | n.a. | ||
| Non-consensual sexual experience* in the past 5 years | ||||
| Yes | 58/273 (21.2) | 103/618 (16.7) | 0.109 | 161/891 (18.1) |
| Timeframe (missing n=3) | 0.002 | |||
| Past month | 9/56 (16.1) | 4/102 (3.9) | 13/158 (8.2) | |
| 1–3 months ago | 12/56 (21.4) | 7/102 (6.9) | 19/158 (12.0) | |
| 3–6 months ago | 7/56 (12.5) | 12/102 (11.8) | 19/158 (12.0) | |
| 6–12 months ago | 6/56 (10.7) | 14/102 (13.7) | 20/158 (12.7) | |
| >1 year ago | 22/56 (39.3) | 65/102 (63.7) | 87/158 (55.1) | |
|
Chemsex† yes and NCS yes, n=58 (36.0%),
n (%) |
Chemsex† no and NCS yes, n=103 (64.0%),
n (%) | P value |
Total n=161 (%),
n (%) | |
| Types of experience (multiple answers possible) | ||||
| Filmed/photographed without consent | 15 (25.9) | 14 (13.6) | 0.058 | 29 (18.0) |
| Blackmailed (eg, with images) | 4 (6.9) | 4 (3.9) | 0.460 | 8 (5.0) |
| Used drugs against my will | 10 (17.2) | 9 (8.7) | 0.130 | 19 (11.8) |
| Touched against my will | 13 (22.4) | 41 (39.8) | 0.036 | 54 (33.5) |
| Had sexual contact against my will | 17 (29.3) | 37 (35.9) | 0.487 | 54 (33.5) |
| Had sex without a condom against my will | 12 (20.7) | 26 (25.2) | 0.566 | 38 (23.6) |
| I passed out and don’t remember (under influence of chems, other substances and/or alcohol) | 24 (41.4) | 9 (8.7) | <0.001 | 33 (20.5) |
| I crossed the limits of my sex partner | 4 (6.9) | 8 (7.8) | 0.999 | 12 (7.5) |
| Other | 1 (1.7) | 5 (4.9) | 0.420 | 6 (3.7) |
| Current level of suffering (missing n=4) | 0.539 | |||
| - - no suffering | 25 (44.6) | 36 (35.6) | 61 (38.9) | |
| - low suffering | 18 (32.1) | 42 (41.6) | 60 (38.2) | |
| -+ medium suffering | 8 (14.3) | 14 (13.9) | 22 (14.0) | |
| + a bit suffering | 4 (7.1) | 4 (4.0) | 8 (5.1) | |
| ++ suffering a lot | 1 (1.8) | 5 (5.0) | 6 (3.8) |
*Non-consensual sexual experience was defined as ‘where someone went beyond one’s limits or where one had an unpleasant experience’.
†The use of any combination of drugs, including crystal methamphetamine, mephedrone, and/or gamma-hydroxybutyrate/gamma-butyrolacton before or during sex in past 6 months.
MSM, men who have sex with men; n.a., not applicable; NCS, non-consensual sex.