Elevated syringe borrowing among men who have sex with men: a prospective study.
OBJECTIVE
Despite efforts to scale up HIV prevention services for drug users, high rates of HIV risk behavior persist among some subpopulations. Given that few prospective studies have considered the relationship between sexual activity and syringe sharing, we sought to evaluate syringe sharing among male injection drug users (IDUs) who have sex with men (MSM) in Vancouver.


METHODS
We performed a longitudinal analysis of factors associated with syringe borrowing among male participants enrolled in the Vancouver Injection Drug Users Study during the years 1996 to 2005 using generalized estimating equations (GEE).


RESULTS
Among the 1019 male participants included in this analysis, 553 (54.3%) reported borrowing syringes during the study period. In multivariate GEE analysis, MSM were at an elevated risk for syringe borrowing (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.50, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.10 to 2.04) after extensive adjustment for other known risk factors.


CONCLUSIONS
Among male participants, having sex with men was found to be strongly and independently associated with syringe borrowing. Our findings may aid policy makers in their efforts to identify IDUs who should be targeted with education and prevention efforts, and indicate the need for ongoing development of prevention interventions that address sexual orientation.
Marshall
Brandon D L
BD
British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Wood
Evan
E
Li
Kathy
K
Kerr
Thomas
T
D000328:Adult; D001955:British Columbia / Q000453:epidemiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018451:Homosexuality, Male; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016485:Needle Sharing; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D014505:Urban Population