Table 1.
Characteristics of IDUs who inject inside versus outside the HIV infection hotspot in Tijuana, Mexico, April 2006-April 2007
| OVERALL (n=1031) |
MALES (n=880) |
FEMALES (n=151) |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variable | Hotspot (n=490) |
Outside Hotspot (n=541) |
P- value |
Hotspot (n=387) |
Outside Hotspot (n=493) |
P- value |
Hotspot (n=103) |
Outside Hotspot (n=48) |
P- value |
| Demographics | |||||||||
| Age - Median (Inter-quartile range (IQR)) | 35 (30–41) | 37 (31–42) | 0.105 | 36 (31–42) | 37 (31–42) | 0.511 | 34 (28–39) | 36 (26–42) | 0.363 |
| Married/Common law | 34.5% | 28.8% | 0.051 | 30.2% | 27% | 0.288 | 50.5% | 47.9% | 0.769 |
| <9th grade education | 42.5% | 40.5% | 0.523 | 41.3% | 39.8% | 0.634 | 46.6% | 47.9% | 0.880 |
| Homeless (past 6 mo) | 15.5% | 10.7% | 0.022 | 18.9% | 11.0% | <0.001 | 2.9% | 8.3% | 0.140 |
| Speak some English | 32.2% | 29.9% | 0.425 | 32.0% | 29.6% | 0.439 | 33.0% | 33.3% | 0.969 |
| Prostitution was main source of income in past year | 8.4% | 1.67% | 0.009 | 0.78% | 1.01% | 0.714 | 36.9% | 8.3% | <0.001 |
| Had health insurance (past 6 mo) | 7.4% | 12.2% | <0.001 | 8.3% | 12.2% | 0.060 | 3.9% | 12.5% | 0.047 |
| Mobility | |||||||||
| Travels >5km between residence and regular injection site | 6.4% | 2.8% | 0.006 | 7.4% | 3.1% | 0.004 | 2.9% | 0% | 0.232 |
| Moved to Tijuana in the past 5 years | 25.9% | 20.9% | 0.056 | 26.6% | 20.5% | 0.033 | 23.3% | 25.0% | 0.820 |
| Ever deported from the U.S. | 43.8% | 34.0% | 0.001 | 49.1% | 35.5% | <0.001 | 23.5% | 18.8% | 0.510 |
| Crossed US-Mexico border in the past year | 7.1% | 6.5% | 0.668 | 5.4% | 6.1% | 0.678 | 13.6% | 10.4% | 0.584 |
| Clinical Status | |||||||||
| Active syphilis (antibody titer≥1:8) | 11.5% | 4.3% | <0.001 | 9.3% | 3.7% | <0.001 | 19.8% | 11.1% | 0.198 |
| Lifetime syphilis exposure (antibody positive) | 22.4% | 9.5% | <0.001 | 16.6% | 8.1% | <0.001 | 44.6% | 24.4% | 0.021 |
| HIV positive | 6.7% | 1.67% | <0.001 | 5.4% | 1.83% | 0.004 | 11.7% | 0% | 0.015 |
| Drug Use Risk Behaviors (last 6 months, unless indicated) | |||||||||
| Age at first injection - Median (IQR) | 20 (16–25) | 20 (17–25) | 0.974 | 20 (16–25) | 20 (16–25) | 0.861 | 20 (17–24) | 20 (17–27.5) | 0.517 |
| Ever injected with someone who lives in the U.S. | 49.2% | 46.2% | 0.340 | 53.5% | 47.5% | 0.076 | 33.0% | 33.3% | 0.970 |
| Receptive needle/syringe sharing | 53.5% | 63.2% | 0.002 | 55.8% | 64.9% | 0.006 | 44.7% | 45.8% | 0.893 |
| Distributive needle/syringe sharing | 58.2% | 63.8% | 0.065 | 60.2% | 64.7% | 0.171 | 50.5% | 54.2% | 0.673 |
| Injects more than once a day | 82.6% | 83.4% | 0.726 | 83.8% | 83.4% | 0.873 | 78.0% | 83.7% | 0.435 |
| Normally injected drugs outside | 38.4% | 38.1% | 0.924 | 46.5% | 39.6% | 0.038 | 92.2% | 77.1% | 0.009 |
| Aware of needle exchange program in the area | 33.7% | 15.5% | <0.001 | 31.8% | 15.8% | <0.001 | 40.8% | 12.5% | <0.001 |
| Used needle exchange program | 26.9% | 8.3% | <0.001 | 26.6% | 8.3% | <0.001 | 28.2% | 8.3% | 0.006 |
| Encounters with Police | |||||||||
| Police presence ever caused a rushed injection | 36.7% | 30.5% | 0.034 | 37.7% | 31.6% | 0.059 | 33.0% | 18.8% | 0.071 |
| Police presence affected where used drugs (past 6 mo) | 44.6% | 36.3% | 0.007 | 46.1% | 37.2% | 0.008 | 38.8% | 27.1% | 0.159 |
| Police presence affected new syringe access (past 6 mo) | 13.5% | 11.3% | 0.289 | 14.5% | 11.6% | 0.203 | 9.7% | 8.3% | 0.786 |
| Arrested for any reason (past 6 mo) | 78.2% | 73.2% | 0.064 | 82.2% | 75.7% | 0.0196 | 63.1% | 47.9% | 0.078 |
| Ever arrested for carrying unused needles/sterile | 37.6% | 31.2% | 0.033 | 38.5% | 32.7% | 0.072 | 34.0% | 16.7% | 0.028 |
| Arrested for carrying unused needles/syringes (past 6 mo) | 31.6% | 25.3% | 0.025 | 34.6% | 26.6% | 0.010 | 20.4% | 12.5% | 0.239 |
| Arrested for carrying used needles/syringes (past 6 mo) | 32.7% | 31.4% | 0.673 | 37% | 32.9% | 0.206 | 16.5% | 16.7% | 0.980 |
| Arrested for having track marks (past 6 mo) | 46.3% | 44.0% | 0.452 | 49.9% | 46.0) | 0.259 | 33.0% | 22.9% | 0.207 |
| Beaten by police (past 6 mo) | 40.4% | 32.4% | 0.007 | 44.7% | 34.3% | 0.002 | 24.3% | 12.5% | 0.095 |
| Ever sexually assaulted by police officer | 7.5% | 2.6% | <0.001 | 1.09% | 0.43% | 0.261 | 31.3% | 25.6% | 0.492 |
| Sexually assaulted by police (past 6 mo) | 3.1% | 0.74% | 0.006 | 0.78% | 0% | 0.050 | 11.7% | 8.3% | 0.537 |
| Police officer ever ask for sexual favors | 11.2% | 3.1% | <0.001 | 0.48% | 0.48% | 0.731 | 48.5% | 27.9% | 0.023 |
| Asked for sexual favors by police (past 6 mo) | 5.3% | 1.66% | 0.001 | 0.52% | 0.41% | 0.808 | 23.3% | 14.6% | 0.217 |
| Syringes taken by police (past 6 mo) | 9.6% | 5.6% | 0.014 | 9.8% | 5.7% | 0.021 | 8.7% | 4.2% | 0.314 |
| HIV Knowledge | |||||||||
| High perceived risk of HIV infection | 49.2% | 40.3% | 0.005 | 52.0% | 41.2% | 0.002 | 38.8% | 31.3% | 0.367 |
| Ever had HIV test | 45.1% | 37.0% | 0.008 | 38.0% | 35.3% | 0.411 | 71.8% | 54.2% | 0.032 |
| Knows anyone personally who has HIV/AIDS | 46.1% | 34.2% | <0.001 | 45.2% | 34.9% | 0.002 | 49.5% | 27.1% | 0.009 |
| Median number of personal contacts who died from AIDS (IQR) | 0 (0–2) | 0 (0–0) | <0.001 | 0 (0–2) | 0 (0–0) | <0.001 | 0 (0–2) | 0 (0–0) | 0.002 |
| Sexual Behavior | |||||||||
| Sexually active (past 6 mo) | 30.7% | 22.9% | 0.005 | 10.6% | 22.1% | 0.501 | 56.4% | 31.3% | 0.004 |
| Men who had ever had sex with men (n=880) | 27.7% | 24.3% | 0.266 | 27.7% | 24.3% | 0.266 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Ever traded sex in exchange for money or goods | 27.0% | 18.7% | 0.002 | 18.1% | 16.4% | 0.517 | 61.6% | 41.7% | 0.023 |
| Did not use condom with casual partner (past 6 mo) | 11.4% | 7.4% | 0.026 | 10.3% | 7.7% | 0.173 | 15.5% | 4.2% | 0.045 |
| Used drugs within 2 hours before or during sex with casual partner (past 6 mo) | 20.0% | 12.0% | 0.014 | 15.0% | 11.6% | 0.135 | 38.8% | 16.7% | 0.006 |
| Ever forced to have sex | 6.8% | 3.1% | 0.007 | 0.78% | 1.22% | 0.518 | 29.7% | 22.9% | 0.386 |
Notes: Overall n: n=1016 for travels >5km; n=974 for ever sexually assaulted by police, and ever asked for sexual favors; n=1015 for high perceived risk of HIV infection; Total n for males: n=832 for sexual assault by police, and sexual favors by police; n=865 for traveling >5km; n=864 for high perceived risk of HIV; n=857 for inject more than once a day