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Introduction: Sexualized drug use (SDU) to enhance and extend sexual relations may involve risks of substances abuse (intoxication, interactions and overdose) and higher exposure to HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. There are inconsistencies in the methodology and findings of previous research on SDU in Latin America (LA), and more studies are required. The purpose of this research was to characterize SDU in gay men and other men who have sex with men from 18 LA countries, and describe the aspects by comparing people who practice and do not practice SDU, at the general and country levels., Material and Methods: Cross-sectional study based on the data collected by LAMIS-2018. Dependent variable was SDU (last 12 months), and the independent variables were: drug use (in any context/in sexual context), sociodemographic, socioepidemiological, and psychosocial aspects. A descriptive analysis was carried out, comparing those who practiced and did not practice SDU., Results: LAMIS-2018 included 64,655 participants, averaging 30 years of age. 13.6% declared having practiced SDU (6.6% with multiple partners). In the last sexual encounter the most commonly used drugs were cannabis (9.3%), poppers (6%), and Viagra (5.4%), and in the last encounter with multiple partners, poppers (19.7%), cannabis (17%), and Viagra (13.2%). HIV diagnosis was reported by 27% of people practicing SDU, vs. 14.3% in the other group. Severe anxiety-depression symptoms were more common among people practicing SDU (9.2% vs. 7%), as were the episodes of homophobic intimidation (52.6% vs. 48.2%), insults (34.4% vs. 28.6%), and aggression (4.1% vs. 3.0%)., Conclusions: SDU was reported by a high percentage of people, with a predominance of the use of drugs related to sexual practice, and others for recreational use. Aspects described as the higher proportion of self-reported HIV diagnosis and severe symptoms of anxiety-depression among those who practiced SDU, show that is necessary to implement preventive strategies to reduce the harmful impacts that can sometimes result from this practice, including harm reduction policies, promote access to mental health services and support in situations of homophobia and stigma., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Lisboa 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.)

Despite men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) from Latin America (LA) are still a vulnerable population for known health-related conditions and social problems, availability of comparable data across LA countries for assessment and monitoring purposes is limited. The objective of this article is to present the study design and the questionnaire of LAMIS-2018 (Latin America MSM Internet Survey), its recruitment strategy, rates and sources by country, and the lessons learned from its implementation. LAMIS-2018 was a cross-sectional, internet-based survey targeting MSM living in 18 LA countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela) that gathered data about sexual behaviors, HIV/STI and viral hepatitis knowledge, prophylactic use of antiretrovirals, psychosocial health, and access to sexual health services. The survey went online for four months and was available in three languages (Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch). Promotion was carried out using dating apps, websites, social networks, and by community-based and academic organizations of each participating country directly in gay venues and in their own premises. Overall, 64,655 MSM participated in LAMIS-2018. Dating apps and websites were the most important recruitment source in most countries, except for Honduras, Nicaragua, and Suriname, where community-based organizations recruited most of the participants. Beyond the LAMIS-2018 implementation description, we highlight the feasibility of such a study in this context, based on the collaboration between community-based and academic organizations to obtain a large sample of MSM in the region. LAMIS-2018 data will contribute to identify determinants of risk behaviors and prevention needs of vulnerable MSM populations in each country of the region., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2022 Reyes-Díaz 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.)

Objective: To adapt a behavioural questionnaire for second-generation HIV/AIDS surveillance in female sex workers (FSWs) in the Metropolitan Region, Chile., Methods: Qualitative study of instruments validation. A Spanish instrument adapted in Catalonia was validated through a translation and back-translation of the original version. The content validity was determined through a modified Delphi method, via FSW and HIV experts representing community, political and institutional levels. Applicability aspects were determined by the application of the questionnaire to FSW in the Metropolitan Region., Results: The questionnaire, drafted in Spain, was successfully adapted to Chilean Spanish. The content validity process enabled sections to be created that address HIV in FSWs. The adapted questionnaire takes less than 15minutes to complete, which makes it usable in fieldwork. The 61 women surveyed came from different countries (all were Latin Americans) and had different educational levels; all this enabled potential applicability problems to be detected., Discussion: The adapted questionnaire for Chile contains all the UNAIDS indicators for FSWs, as well as the recommended indicators of Family Health International for bio-behavioural surveillance. Said questionnaire serves as a tool for second-generation HIV/other STD surveillance and further contributes to preventive policies in Chilean FSWs., (Copyright © 2016 SESPAS. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Background: High-risk human Papillomavirus infection is a necessary factor for cervical squamous intraepithelial lesions and invasive cervical cancer. In HIV-1-infected women, HPV infection is more prevalent and a higher risk of cervical cancer has been identified. We aimed to calculate the prevalence of infection by HR-HPV, determine the factors associated with this infection and abnormal cytology findings and to describe the history of cervical cancer screening in HIV-1-infected women., Methods: We enrolled 479 HIV-1-infected women from the PISCIS cohort. Each patient underwent a gynecological check-up, PAP smear, HPV AND Hybrid capture, HPV genotyping, and colposcopy and biopsy, if necessary. We applied questionnaires to obtain information on sociodemographic, behavioral, clinical, and cervical screening variables. We present a cross-sectional analysis., Results: Median age was 42 years. The prevalence of HR-HPV infection was 33.2% and that of high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) was 3.8%. The most common genotypes were 16(23%), 53(20.3%), and 52(16.2%). The factor associated with HR-HPV infection was age <30 years (odds ratio[OR],2.5; 95%confidence interval[CI],1.1-5.6). The factors associated with the presence of HSIL or low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL) were CD4T-lymphocyte count <200 cells/mm(3) versus >500 cells/mm(3) (OR,8.4; 95%CI,3.7-19.2), HIV-1 viral load >10,000 copies/mL versus <400 copies/mL (OR,2.1; 95%CI,1.0-4.4), and use of oral contraceptives (OR,2.0; 95%CI,1.0-3.9). Sixty percent of HIV-1-infected women had had one Pap smear within the last 2 years., Conclusions: The high prevalence of HPV infection and cervical lesions in the HIV-1-infected population in Catalonia, as well as the low coverage and frequency of screening in this group, means that better preventive efforts are necessary and should include vaccination against HPV, better accessibility to screening programs, training of health care professionals, and specific health education for HIV-1-infected women.