Muschialli, Luke and Yang, Justin C and Engstrom, Teyl and Puljevic, Cheneal and Beltazar, Edoardo and Beltazar, Emmanuel and Siddique, Owais and Ferris, Jason and Connolly, Dean J (2025) Sexualized drug use and chemsex: a bibliometric and content analysis of published literature. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 57, (3), pp. 321-332. https://doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2024.2367614.
External website: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02791...
Sexualized drug use (SDU) describes drug-facilitated sexual enhancement, and chemsex is an SDU subculture involving the use of specific drugs by men who have sex with men (MSM). This study aimed to identify research trends, foci, and themes within the SDU and chemsex-specific literature. The Web of Science Core Collection was searched with a list of SDU synonyms. All SDU-related articles were analyzed using the R package, bibliometrix. Full text review identified chemsex-specific records, and text was extracted verbatim for content analysis in Leximancer. The search returned 1,866 unique records. A total of 521 addressed SDU, and 301 papers specifically addressed chemsex. The small but growing SDU literature primarily addressed consensual encounters between MSM, and drug-facilitated assault experienced by women, in Western settings. Little attention was given to transgender communities or consensual SDU in cisgender heterosexual individuals. The literature primarily viewed SDU through a public health lens, specifically focusing on the risk conferred to sexual health.The SDU and chemsex-specific literature are potentially limited in scope and may inadequately capture the geographical, demographic, and cultural diversity of these phenomena. Future research should address the myriad social and health implications of SDU and chemsex participation across all relevant communities and settings.
B Substances > Alcohol
B Substances > CNS stimulants > MDMA / Ecstasy
B Substances > Cocaine
B Substances > New (novel) psychoactive substances > Synthetic cathinones > Mephedrone
B Substances > New (novel) psychoactive substances > Other novel substances > GHB / GBL (Gamma hydroxybutyric / Gamma butyrolactone)
G Health and disease > State of health
G Health and disease > Substance use disorder (addiction) > Multiple substance use (Poly-drug /Poly-substance)
J Health care, prevention, harm reduction and treatment > Health services, substance use research
J Health care, prevention, harm reduction and treatment > Harm reduction > Substance use harm reduction
J Health care, prevention, harm reduction and treatment > Health related issues > Health information and education > Communicable / infectious disease control > Safe sex / sexual health
J Health care, prevention, harm reduction and treatment > Health related issues > Health information and education > Health promotion
J Health care, prevention, harm reduction and treatment > Health care delivery
L Social psychology and related concepts > Social context > Context encouraging substance use
N Communication, information and education > Message / Language (portrayal of use)
T Demographic characteristics > Homosexual, gay, bisexual, lesbian, transgender, LGBTQ+
VA Geographic area > International
Repository Staff Only: item control page