Table 1. Characteristics of female sex workers and their non-commercial male partners: who inject drugs in Tijuana and Cd. Juárez, Mexico (n=312; 156 couples)a.
Women (n=156) |
Men (n=156) |
Overall (n=312) |
|
---|---|---|---|
Sociodemographics | |||
| |||
Study site is Tijuana (vs. Cd. Ciudad Juárez ) | 70 (45%) | 70 (45%) | 140 (45%) |
Median age in years (interquartile range; IQR) | 33 (28-40) | 37 (31-43) | 35 (29-42) *** |
Median educational attainment in years (IQR) | 6 (5-8) | 7 (6-9) | 6 (6-9) ** |
Born in study site (vs. someplace else) | 70 (45%) | 71 (46%) | 141 (45%) |
Ever had children | 143 (92%) | 118 (76%) | 261 (84%) *** |
Income >3500 pesos per month (>$270 USD) | 65 (42%) | 45 (30%) | 110 (36%) ** |
Median time spent on street each day in hours (IQR) | 8 (5-10) | 10 (8-12) | 8 (6-12) ** |
Ever been arrested (lifetime) | 89 (57%) | 112 (72%) | 201 (64%) ** |
Ever migrated to the United States | 75 (48%) | 113 (72%) | 188 (60%) *** |
Ever been deported from the United States | 11 (7%) | 26 (17%) | 37 (12%) ** |
| |||
Relationship Characteristics | |||
| |||
Median relationship duration in years (IQR)b | -- | -- | 3.0 (1.5-5.2) |
Median trust of partner on 10-point scale (IQR) | 9 (7-10) | 9 (7-10) | 9 (7-10) |
Median relationship satisfaction on 20-point scale (IQR) |
15 (13-15) | 15 (14-15) | 15 (14-15) * |
Male financial dependence on FSW’s incomeb | -- | -- | 86 (28%) |
Couple rarely/never uses condoms (vs. often/always) |
-- | -- | 302 (97%) |
| |||
Drug Abuse (past 6 months, alone or in
combination with other drugs) |
|||
| |||
Used heroin | 133 (85%) | 125 (80%) | 258 (83%) |
Injected heroin | 132 (85%) | 123 (79%) | 255 (82%) |
Used methamphetamine | 42 (27%) | 39 (25%) | 81 (26%) |
Injected methamphetamine | 21 (13%) | 25 (16%) | 46 (15%) |
Used cocaine use | 32 (21%) | 27 (17%) | 59 (19%) |
Injected cocaine | 15 (10%) | 15 (10%) | 30 (10%) |
Used crack | 24 (15%) | 18 (12%) | 42 (13%) |
Injected crack | 2 (1%) | 4 (3%) | 6 (2%) |
| |||
Drug Procurement within Relationships
(past 6 months) |
|||
| |||
Uses heroin with partner at least once per day | 91 (58%) | 90 (58%) | 181 (58%) |
Injects heroin with partner at least once per day | 90 (58%) | 86 (55%) | 176 (56%) |
Before using heroin together with partner, who usually makes the decision to use the drug: c |
|||
1. Participant mostly/completely decides (vs.
partner) |
9 (10%) | 4 (5%) | 13 (7%) |
2. Participant and partner decide together (equally) | 79 (88%) | 80 (93%) | 159 (90%) |
3. Partner mostly/completely decides (vs.
participant) |
2 (2%) | 2 (2%) | 4 (2%) |
Before using heroin together with partner, who was usually responsible for buying it: c |
|||
| |||
1. Participant mostly/completely responsible | 6 (7%) | 13 (15%) | 19 (11%) |
2. Participant and partner equally responsible | 76 (84%) | 69 (80%) | 145 (82%) |
3. Partner mostly/completely responsible | 8 (9%) | 4 (5%) | 12 (7%) |
| |||
Injection Equipment Sharing within
Relationships (past 6 months) |
|||
| |||
Gave or loaned a syringe to someone else after using it (including to partner) |
63 (47%) | 44 (36%) | 107 (42%) * |
| |||
To whom a used syringe was given/loaned: d | |||
| |||
Steady partner | 42 (67%) | 24 (55%) | 66 (62%) |
Friends | 25 (40%) | 15 (34%) | 40 (37%) |
Acquaintances | 7 (11%) | 13 (30%) | 20 (19%) * |
Gave or loaned a spoon, bottle cap, cotton filter or rinse water to someone else after using it (including to partner) |
65 (49%) | 51 (42%) | 116 (45%) |
Shared or divided drugs by using a syringe to load drugs into another syringe |
53 (40%) | 50 (41%) | 103 (40%) |
Often/always used a new syringe to divide the drugs (vs. rarely/never): e |
10 (19%) | 22 (44%) | 32 (31%) ** |
Used a syringe after someone else had used it (including partner; i.e., receptive syringe sharing) |
59 (44%) | 48 (39%) | 107 (42%) |
| |||
From whom the used syringe was obtained: f | |||
| |||
Steady partner | 40 (68%) | 23 (48%) | 63 (59%) * |
Friends | 20 (34%) | 19 (40%) | 39 (36%) |
Acquaintances | 8 (14%) | 15 (31%) | 23 (22%) * |
Used a spoon, bottle cap, cotton filter or rinse water after someone else had used it (including to partner) |
63 (48%) | 52 (42%) | 115 (45%) |
| |||
Injection Assistance Behaviors (past 6 months) | |||
| |||
Received help injecting from someone else | 38 (29%) | 32 (26%) | 70 (27%) |
| |||
Reason for seeking help injecting from someone else: g |
|||
| |||
Veins are collapsed/too small | 24 (63%) | 19 (59%) | 43 (61%) |
Never learned how to inject | 10 (26%) | 4 (13%) | 14 (20%) |
Wanted to inject in neck or other difficult places | 4 (6%) | 7 (10%) | 11 (16%) |
From whom the help injecting was obtained: g | |||
Steady partner | 26 (68%) | 17 (53%) | 43 (61%) |
Friends | 11 (29%) | 14 (44%) | 25 (36%) |
Acquaintances | 5 (13%) | 4 (13%) | 9 (13%) |
Notes:
Analysis restricted to 312 participants involved in relationships in which both partners reported injecting drugs within six months prior to their baseline visit (i.e., 156 “injector couples”).
Average of both partners’ responses within couples.
Among 176 who inject heroin together at least once per day.
Among 107 who gave or loaned a syringe to someone else after using it.
Among 103 who shared/divided drugs using another syringe.
Among 107 who used a syringe after someone else (receptive syringe sharing).
Among 70 who received help injecting from someone else (injection assistance).
p<.05
p<.01
p<.001.
P-values were obtained from bivariable logistic regression analyses with clustered standard errors to account for correlation within couples.