1. Cocaine/crack and cannabis use among transgender women in Goiás, Central Brazil.
- Author
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Magalhães LS, Dos Santos KC, Diniz E Silva BV, da Silva Filho GF, da Costa E Silva GR, Guimarães RA, Pillon SC, Caetano KAA, Martins RMB, Carneiro MADS, Cook RL, and Teles SA
- Subjects
- Humans, Female, Brazil epidemiology, Adult, Cross-Sectional Studies, Young Adult, Cocaine-Related Disorders epidemiology, Prevalence, Male, Marijuana Abuse epidemiology, Cannabis adverse effects, Transgender Persons statistics & numerical data, Crack Cocaine
- Abstract
Introduction: Illicit drug use is a significant public health problem. Studies have shown a high prevalence of cocaine and cannabis use in transgender women (TGW)., Objective: To describe the consumption patterns of cannabis and cocaine/crack use and variables associated with their use in TGW in Central Brazil., Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on TGW in Goiás, Brazil. Participants were recruited using a respondent-driven sampling method and were interviewed face-to-face about cannabis and crack-cocaine and the variables associated with them. The Alcohol Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test was used to assess substance use. Unweighted logistic regression was used to identify variables associated with cannabis and crack cocaine use. P-values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant., Results: A total of 440 transgender women participated in the study. Their median age was 25 years (interquartile range: 20.5-29.5 years). Most participants were single (85.5%) and had engaged in sex work in their lifetime (58.6%). Cannabis was reported by 68.9% and 53.4% of participants in their lifetime and in the past three months, respectively, and cocaine/crack use was reported by 59.8% and 44.1% of participants in their lifetime and the past three months, respectively. Of the participants, 10.2% reported high-risk cannabis use, and 9.1% reported high-risk cocaine/crack use. Furthermore, 35% of participants reported using both drugs. Previous physical violence (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR): 2.37), inconsistent condom uses during anal sex (AOR: 2.17), and moderate-/high-risk cocaine/crack use (AOR: 3.14) were associated with high-risk cannabis use. Previous sexual violence (AOR: 2.84), previous STI (AOR: 2.90), moderate-/high-risk cannabis (AOR: 3.82), and binge drinking (AOR; 3.28) were associated with high-risk cocaine/crack use., Conclusion: Our study found a high frequency, significant overlap in the use of cannabis and cocaine/crack use and violence associated with these drugs consumption among TGW, highlighting the urgent need for health policies for drug disorders among this socially marginalized group., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Magalhães et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)
- Published
- 2024
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