Variations in Paraphernalia Sharing among IDUs: Do Attitudes of Other IDUs in the Neighborhood Matte

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Variations in Paraphernalia Sharing among IDUs
Do Attitudes of Other IDUs in the Neighborhood
Matter?

• Wei Teng, Robert Heimer, Merrill Singer, Tom
  Stopka, David Buchanan
• The Hispanic Health Council, Hartford, CT Yale
  University, New Haven, CT University of
  Massachusetts, Amherst, MA

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The Study Sample

• 875 IDUs from 24 neighborhoods in three Northeast
  cities.
• The data were collected through face-to-face
  interviews using a survey instrument of Syringe
  Access, Use Discard Assessment (SAUDA) from
  December, 1999 through September, 2001.

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Measures I

• The General Attitude of Other IDUs in the
  Neighborhood towards Drug-Related HIV Risk
  Behavior
• Measured by 8 items of drug-related HIV risk
  protection behavior.
• Participants rated the general attitude of other
  IDUs in their neighborhoods regarding each item
  on a 5-point scale.
• A General Attitude variable was computed based on
  the mean scores of the 8 items.

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Measures II

• Drug Injection Paraphernalia Sharing
• Indicated by three dichotomous variables of
  Syringe Sharing, Water Sharing, and Cooker/Cotton
  Sharing
• The three variables were computed based on the
  number of times in the past 30 days that a
  participant used a syringe, water to mix up drug,
  a cooker, or a cotton that had already been used
  by another IDU.

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Variations in the Prevalence of Injection
Paraphernalia Sharing Across the Cities
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Variations in the Prevalence of Injection
Paraphernalia Sharing Across the Neighborhoods
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General Attitude of Other IDUs and Injection
Paraphernalia Sharing
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Binary Logistic Regression Results Syringe
Sharing
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Binary Logistic Regression Results Water Sharing
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Binary Logistic Regression Results
Cooker/Cotton Sharing
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Summary of the Findings

• The prevalence of injection paraphernalia sharing
  among IDUs varied by neighborhood.
• IDUs who did share reported a more accepting
  attitude towards risky behavior from other IDUs
  in their neighborhoods.
• IDUs perception of the attitude of other IDUs in
  their neighborhoods towards risk behavior was
  significantly associated with their own recent
  sharing behavior.

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Implications of the Findings

• Other IDUs attitude towards drug-related HIV
  risk behavior is an important factor in
  determining an IDUs own HIV risk behavior.
• AIDS/HIV prevention/education that target on not
  only individual injection drug users but also
  local IDUs group and their peer norms should be
  more effective.