Chemical sex (chemsex) in a population of French university students

Abstract

Introduction: Chemsex is defined by the use of psychoactive substances to facilitate or improve sexual relations. Our objectives were to assess the prevalence of the practice of ‘chemsex’ in a population of French university students and to identify socio-demographic and clinical factors associated with this practice. Material and methods: We have used an anonymous online questionnaire comprising 15 questions on socio-demographic characteristics, chemsex use, sexual satisfaction, the type of substances used in this sexual context and their route of administration. Results: A total of 680 people were included in our study. Among them, 22.5% reported chemsex behaviour in the past year. Using a multivariate analysis, factors associated with chemsex were dating application use (p = 0.049) and pornography use [viewing more than once per month (p = 0.002)]. Having a sexual partner involved in chemsex (p < 0.0001), celibacy (p = 0.007), sexual orientations other than heterosexual (p = 0.0013) and especially bisexuality (p = 0.0002) were also significantly associated with chemsex. Conclusion: This is the first study reporting a high prevalence of chemsex in a university student population. Further larger studies should be conducted to confirm these results showing a high prevalence of this at-risk behaviour.