Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of characteristics associated with unprotected heterosexual intercourse in HIV infected adults in an urban area. DESIGN: Retrospective comparison of sexual risk transmission behaviour between HIV infected men and women from a drug treatment site and between women from the drug site and HIV infected women from an urban medical centre. METHODS: HIV infected women and men were asked questions on sexual behaviour for a 1 year period before enrollment. The outcome variable was heterosexual risk behaviour (HRB) defined as having vaginal sex at least once in the previous year and not always using condoms. RESULTS: 73% of the drug clinic females, 72% of the drug clinic males, and 42% of the medical centre female engaged in HRB. Using logistic regression analysis, women and men in drug treatment engaged in similar rates of HRB; however, women in drug treatment were four times (95% CI = 2.0-8.3) more likely to engage in HRB risk behaviour than women from the medical centre. CONCLUSION: The data suggest that a surprisingly large portion of HIV infected patients under treatment engaged in HRB, especially former drug users. Without specifically targeted interventions, the heterosexual spread of HIV in urban areas will continue to be a serious problem.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Augenbraun M. H., DeHovitz J. A., Feldman J., Clarke L., Landesman S., Minkoff H. M. Biological false-positive syphilis test results for women infected with human immunodeficiency virus. Clin Infect Dis. 1994 Dec;19(6):1040–1044. doi: 10.1093/clinids/19.6.1040. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Battjes R. J., Pickens R. W., Brown L. S., Jr HIV infection and AIDS risk behaviors among injecting drug users entering methadone treatment: an update. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr Hum Retrovirol. 1995 Sep 1;10(1):90–96. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Brown L. S., Jr, Chu A., Nemoto T., Ajuluchukwu D., Primm B. J. Human immunodeficiency virus infection in a cohort of intravenous drug users in New York City. Demographic, behavioral, and clinical features. N Y State J Med. 1989 Sep;89(9):506–510. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Catania J. A., Coates T. J., Stall R., Turner H., Peterson J., Hearst N., Dolcini M. M., Hudes E., Gagnon J., Wiley J. Prevalence of AIDS-related risk factors and condom use in the United States. Science. 1992 Nov 13;258(5085):1101–1106. doi: 10.1126/science.1439818. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lewis D. K., Watters J. K. Sexual risk behavior among heterosexual intravenous drug users: ethnic and gender variations. AIDS. 1991 Jan;5(1):77–83. doi: 10.1097/00002030-199101000-00011. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Magura S., Kang S. Y., Shapiro J. L. Outcomes of intensive AIDS education for male adolescent drug users in jail. J Adolesc Health. 1994 Sep;15(6):457–463. doi: 10.1016/1054-139x(94)90492-l. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- O'Donnell L., San Doval A., Vornfett R., O'Donnell C. R. STD prevention and the challenge of gender and cultural diversity: knowledge, attitudes, and risk behaviors among black and Hispanic inner-city STD clinic patients. Sex Transm Dis. 1994 May-Jun;21(3):137–148. doi: 10.1097/00007435-199405000-00003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Singh B. K., Koman J. J., 3rd, Catan V. M., Souply K. L., Birkel R. C., Golaszewski T. J. Sexual risk behavior among injection drug-using human immunodeficiency virus positive clients. Int J Addict. 1993 Jun;28(8):735–747. doi: 10.3109/10826089309062170. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Temmerman M., Ndinya-Achola J., Ambani J., Piot P. The right not to know HIV-test results. Lancet. 1995 Apr 15;345(8955):969–970. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(95)90707-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]