Injection drug use and sexually transmitted infections among men who have sex with men: A retrospective cohort study at an HIV/AIDS referral hospital in Tokyo, 2013–2022

Abstract

Men who have sex with men (MSM) who use injection drugs (MSM-IDU) are at high risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), but the long-term incidence is unclear. We conducted a single-centre retrospective cohort study using the clinical records of non-haemophilia men with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who visited the Institute of Medical Science, the University of Tokyo (IMSUT) Hospital, located in Tokyo, Japan, from 2013 to 2022. We analysed 575 patients including 62 heterosexual males and 513 MSM patients, of whom 6.8% (35/513) were injection drug use (IDU). Compared to non-IDU MSM, MSM-IDU had a higher incidence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) (44.8 vs 3.5 /1,000 person-years (PY); incidence rate ratio (IRR) [95% confidence interval (95% CI)], 12.8 [5.5–29.3], p < 0.001) and syphilis (113.8 vs 53.3 /1,000 PY; IRR, 2.1 [1.4–3.1], p < 0.001). The incidence of other symptomatic STIs (amoebiasis, chlamydia, and gonorrhoea infections) was <4/1,000 PY. In multivariable Poisson regression analysis, HCV incidence was associated with MSM (IRR, 1.8 × 10 ⁶ [9.9 × 10 ⁵–3.4 × 10 ⁶], p < 0.001), IDU (IRR, 10.1 [4.0–25.6], p < 0.001), and syphilis infection during the study period (IRR, 25.0 [1.2–518.3]/time/year, p < 0.001). Among men with HIV, the prevalence of IDU in MSM and the long-term incidence of STIs in MSM-IDU were high. IDU and sexual contact are important modes of transmission of HCV among HIV-infected MSM in Tokyo.